Springtime For Cinder
by ARoseForRose
Summary: It was no secret to Weiss Schnee, the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, that she was going to have her marriage arranged by her father. That she knew ever since she was a little girl. What she never expected, was her wedding to be a political decision. Written collectively by ARoseForRose and The Supreme One. Spice, Monochrome, Trinidad (full summary inside)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Welcome, welcome, to another year at Hogwarts-oops. Wrong fandom. This is gonna be one big A/N so be warned.  
**

**Full summary:  
_It was no secret to Weiss Schnee, the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, that she was going to have her marriage arranged by her father. That she knew ever since she was a little girl. What she never expected was her wedding to be a political decision._**

**_A story about the life of Cinder Fall; a story that will tell of her past, her present, and her future as well. Loosely based on the arranged marriage au. Written collectively by ARoseForRose and The Supreme One_**

**_Pairings: Spice* [Melanie/Yang/Miltia], Monochrome, Trinidad* [Ruby/Weiss/Blake]_**

**_*Spice because the girls' color schemes are green, yellow and red. These are also the colors of peppers, which are spicy, and girls are made of sugar, and spice, and everything nice. So Spice it is.  
*Trinidad because the country's flag is black, white and red, it means "trinity", and it overall sounds better than Newspaper and Blushing Penguin. It totally works. (Parings named by TSO because ARoseForRose sucks at finding ship names)_**

**Okay, so, this little story, is written by both yours truly and the ever so lovely Supreme One (you can call her TSO). It's certainly Cinder centered (that's a mouthful), meaning that several chapters will be devoted to her awesomeness. Pairings are as mentioned above, but don't be confused. This is so much more than a romance story full of fluff. We don't really like too much fluff. Did you notice the genre tags? Yeah, it's angst, and crime, and drama, and adventure, and hurt, and a little humor when things need to lighten up a bit.**

**We hope you enjoy the journey through mostly Cinder's life.**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Rooster Teeth, RWBY, the characters, or the au this story is loosely (I repeat, loosely) based on. We do own the rest of the plot though! Tasteless jabs at celebrities constitute fair game.**

**1.**

It was yet another ordinary morning when Ruby Rose, always the first of her team to wake up, decided it was a good time to check the news, just like she did every day as part of her routine. Or at least it seemed like an ordinary morning; until she read the title of one of the articles, which made her jaw drop in shock and disbelief.

She was standing in the hall, shocked, no, dumbfounded by what lay before her. She tried to read it again, and have it make sense, but nothing really came of the effort. Nor the next three attempts.

Her eyes scanned the news report shown on her scroll one more time:

_"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, has had her hand in marriage sold at auction to the highest bidder by her father."_

As it was explained further down the article, the price for Weiss' hand was 8,000,000 Lien. Ruby's eyes widened at the fortune whoever won said auction had offered, though the winning party was as of yet unknown. The girl blinked a couple of times, still refusing to believe that something like that was actually happening. _'Who would sell their own daughter?'_

Faint sounds of someone crying snapped the girl out of the thoughts, and back to reality. Turning her head slightly to face the door to her room, Ruby realized that the person crying sounded a lot like Weiss. _'Oh no,'_ she thought, as she took a step closer to the door._'Poor thing must be devastated.'_

"Well, there goes my theory that she had her tear ducts surgically removed..." she muttered as she quietly opened the door, and peeked inside.

All three of her teammates were there. Yang was sitting next to Weiss on her bed, one armed wrapped around the blonde's shoulders and the other hand stroking Weiss' hand tenderly. Blake was simply lying in her bed, reading a book, the only sign she was paying attention was the right side of her bow, which was aimed towards the heiress.

Weiss was a complete sobbing mess, and that made Ruby's heart hurt a little.

"I can't... believe... he sold me..." she was at least comprehensible between sobs. Weiss glanced up and noticed the faunus, "And why aren't you paying attention to my strife?!" she screamed, glaring at Blake, her eyes throwing daggers at the black-haired girl's direction.

"I am," Blake said, amber eyes leaving her book for just a moment, before resuming their previous position. "Can't you see I'm listening?" Her bow waggled back and forth a bit, indicating she was indeed doing what she said.

Opening the door fully, Ruby made her presence known, and she spoke as she sat down on Blake's bed, "Weiss... look, I know it must be hard for you to accept this, you know, seeing how love is something that you should find on your own and not have forced upon you, and all that, but I want you to know that we will be there for you throughout this entire marriage. You won't have to go though it alone."

The girl raised her head from Yang's chest and shook it. "No... It's... It's not that... I've always known... I just... can't... I can't believe he sold me... for... eight... million... Lien," she turned to Ruby, looking at her in the eye. "I'm worth at least one hundred million!" she yelled before breaking down, burying her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking from the force of her sobs.

Ruby blinked.

Yang face-palmed.

Blake's bow twitched

**Quite short first chapter, just to get things started. Thank you for reading, please review :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Since the first chapter was obviously not a full one, we thought to give you guys another one! Still setting the story in this (obviously longer, but still not too long) chapter.  
How many of you got the reference in the story's title?  
Disclaimer: **We don't own Rooster Teeth, RWBY, the characters, or the au this story is loosely (I repeat, loosely) based on. We do own the rest of the plot though! Tasteless jabs at celebrities constitute fair game.**  
~TSO: A co-writer who reviews her own story. Interesting. Thank you for your lovely words, moron.  
~DarkShaquille: As I (and I think TSO as well) told you, you should watch the anime if you want to get the full grasp of what's going on. Otherwise you'll probably (certainly) get confused with all the characters and everything that is (and will be) going on. Other than that, thanks for taking the time to read and review! Keep an eye out for more  
~echoxknox: Thank you for reviewing! We hope you stick around and find out :)**

**Thank you for the reviews, the follows and faves!**

**2.**

"Yang? _Yang_..." a familiar, high-pitched voice sing-songed.

"She's not waking up," another voice said, rather indifferently.

"Oh, I know! Maybe this will help!" the first voice exclaimed, and Yang knew in an instant what was coming to her. She squeezed her eyes shut, just in time to be hit in the head with a pillow.

"Ruby!" she yelled as she grabbed the pillow, and flung it across the room. "You know I hate that!"

"Well, maybe that's why I do it," said the girl. "You sleep like a rock, Yang, and we need to pack! We're going home for the summer! Whose excited? Show hands! Come on people!" A disappointed sigh escaped her lips when she realized that no one was even remotely willing to participate in her games.

"It's too early for this..." Yang muttered, making her way down from her bed.

"It's not too early; we leave in an hour. Now, if everyone had packed their things yesterday, like_ I_ did, and like I suggested you do as well, you wouldn't be in such a hurry, and you could enjoy this fine day, the way I am," came Weiss' voice from her bed, her eyes scanning the pages of a book.

"Weiss, stop being like this and come help." Weiss' head shot up briefly, to give Ruby a raised eyebrow look, only to return to her reading a moment later. "Please?" Ruby added, rolling her eyes at the fact that she was actually begging Weiss to do something for her. "Forget it. We-"

"Okay, nobody move! There was a book under my pillow and now it's gone. Who took it?" said Blake, throwing her pillow aside, and tossing the sheets on the floor.

"What are you talking about?" asked Weiss, slowly and discretely hiding the book she was reading behind her back, and under her own pillow.

"There was a book under my pillow, and now it's not there," Blake repeated, and turned to look at Weiss, "and I bet you took it!" her bow moved slightly back as she shot an angry look at her teammate.

"Hey! You don't know what you're talking about. Don't accuse me if you're incapable of keeping track of your stuff. Had you packed yesterday-"

"Yes, we know, 'o Infallible Goddess Weiss. None of this would have happened if we had listened to your wisdom and had packed yesterday, like you so cleverly did," Yang interrupted, still being too sleepy to deal with the girl's shenanigans. "Now can everyone please pack in silence?"

"Wow... Yang wants to be quiet. Maybe she's sick," Ruby muttered, but no one was paying attention to her.

"Weiss... I know you took my book. If you give it back now, I promise I won't hurt you," said Blake in her best attempt at a calm voice, before adding a little more quietly, "a lot."

"Blake, you're not making any sense. You probably put it somewhere else and forgot about it," replied Weiss, moving her hand dismissively. "Besides," she added, "why would I steal your porn?" a crooked, sly smile made its way to her lips. As Blake's eyes widened, a gasp was heard from Yang's direction, and a chuckle from Ruby's.

"You-you-I knew it!" Blake yelled, and charged at Weiss, who was prepared for what was about to come, and moved out of the way, while managing to grab the book. "Give it back!"

"'Ninjas of love'..." read Weiss out loud, looking at the cover. "You've got porn, Blake! There's no use denying it!" she exclaimed as she swiftly jumped up to Yang's bed, away from Blake's wrath. "This is just too great!"

"Ooh, I've been meaning to read that..." Yang mused aloud.

"It's not porn!" yelled Blake, making her way over. "It's-it's-it's a romance novel."

"Yeah, like that would be any less embarrassing," Ruby butted in, earning an angry look from the faunus girl.

"Don't kid yourself, kitty. It's porn. You know it, I certainly know it, no point in hiding it," Weiss waved the book above Blake's head.

"It. Is. Not. Porn!" Blake jumped up on the bed as well, and grabbed Weiss' shoulders, pinning her down, her ears fully folded back now. While her teammate was unable to move, Blake snatched the book from her loosening grip, and moved her face close to Weiss', their noses almost touching. "And I don't appreciate being called _'kitty'_," she said. She got off the other girl, and made her way down, a slight yet obvious blush creeping its way to her cheeks.

"Well. That was fun!" exclaimed Ruby, who didn't have time to duck out of a flying pillow's way.

_**~Flashback~**_

In the center of the dark room, Cinder Fall sat at a table, her features softly illuminated by the dim light. She was impatient, irritated even; the way she kept moving her leg nervously being a dead giveaway. Across from her, one could make out two people sitting. At a first glance, they seemed like normal, everyday people. Looking at the couple closer, though, one could see cat ears adorning the top of their heads.

"Listen," Cinder's voice was quiet, pretend calmness dripping from her every word. "I don't want to go to extraordinary measures to get you to agree to this arrangement."

The faunus looked at each other, their eyebrows knitted subtly in both worry and confusion.

"When the rights to the company fall upon your child, I want you to hand it over to me," Cinder simply stated, like something like that would be the normal thing to do.

Their ears twitched. Should they ask?

"What's in it for us?" asked the man after a moment of silence.

Cinder raised her hand and ignited it, a small smile playing across her lips. "I will pay off the dowry in full, and give you fifty percent of it's value each month," she said, and the pair's eyes widened. "I also won't kill you right now."

They looked at each other again, this time their worry was anything but subtle.

"Okay... but we already have the dowry payed off," said the woman quietly, yet firmly.

Cinder chuckled, "By taking a loan from the White Fang Bank? I would hardly called that payed off."

"How do you know about that bank?" the man's voice was laced with concern, and a tinge of fear now.

"Hm" She smirked as her eyes began to glow, "wouldn't you like to know? Now, do we have an agreement or not?"

The man nodded and squeezed his wife's hand for reassurance, "Yes, ma'am, we do."

Placing both her hands on the table, she got up swiftly, the chair she was sitting on making a scraping sound that made the pair's ears twitch. She walked to the door in a slow pace, swaying her hips from left to right as she did so.

Her exit from the room was slow, the sound of her heels echoing all around, leaving behind more questions than the two faunus had gotten answers for.

**A/N: Thank you for reading! We'd love to know what you think so far :) (TSO, if you're going to review, make it constructive in a less polite way. You're spoiling me.)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello everyone! It took us a while to come up with this chapter, but you see, I had been writing for my other story (shameless advertizing time: If you like **_**Frozen**_**, go give it a read. It's called "Let It Snow", and it's been on hiatus for way too long... I'll try to update though!), and we decided that what TSO was writing wasn't really fit for this chapter. Long story short, we ended up wasting about three weeks before we finally managed to write the proper chapter. We hope you like it!**

**TSO's A/N****: Okay, it is extremely weird writing young children, I don't think I like it. Parties are also something I don't think I'll ever want to write about again. Also, in this note I have attached content from an idea we had that was thrown out very early in planning. (I will admit, I was sad to see it go, but it had to.)**

_**Cinder looked into the red eyes before her, tangling her hand into green hair, and pulling the dark girl's head nearer, whispering between shallow breaths, "Oh, Emerald, master thief, I do believe you have stolen my heart." **_

—**TSO**

**Disclaimer****: We don't own Rooster Teeth, RWBY, the characters, or the au this story is loosely (I repeat, **_**loosely**_**) based on. We do own the rest of the plot though! Tasteless jabs at celebrities constitute fair game.**

**~TSO: Uh... Excuse me, dumb ass -_-, but isn't a flashback "like a cut scene to the past"? It's like a flash (aka cut scene) back (aka past). I don't see what the problem is.  
****~DarkShaquille: I know for a fact that you still haven't watched this, and it's only gonna get more confusing for you. Glad you're reading though! And glad you like it :)  
****~Guest (Chapter 1 review): I'm pretty sure you won't see this, but I'm gonna reply anyway. I fixed Miltia's name (thanks for the heads up), and both TSO and I are pretty sure that while, yes, Melanie's outfit is white, her color is actually mint green.  
****~ScytheReaper: Thank you! Glad you liked it, and we hope to see you around :)  
****~echoxknox: Let's hope it doesn't get too confusing or anything. Ask away if you have any questions about it (we won't spoil anything though :P)  
****~Thedoctor24601: Would you look who decided to drop by. Hello there! Huh... Glad we made you laugh I suppose :P And you're gonna have to start watching it at some point 'cause this will only confuse you further! Plus, spoilers (duh). (I keep getting more and more people to watch RWBY, and I'm quite proud of myself.) Also, thanks for your help on this one!**

**3.**

Stuff had been packed, rooms had been cleaned, beds had been made, and everyone was more than ready to leave Beacon Academy for the summer and have some much needed, and well-deserved, vacation.

Ruby looked to her peer, "It's amazing how fast the semester ended, don't you think?" she did not appreciate the silence that followed her question. "Don't you think?" she repeated louder.

The raven-haired girl standing next to her blinked and turned her head to face her team leader, "Huh?"

"I said," Ruby started again, "it's amazing how fast the semester ended, don't you think?"

"Oh, uh… yeah. Sure," replied Blake, ignoring the muttered "Honestly, Blake?" that had come from the other girl.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Ruby, keeping her tone hushed.

"Nothing, why?" Blake's gaze turned away from the redhead, and she sighed as she stared into nothingness.

Ruby rolled her eyes, "Seriously? Do you even realize what you look like right now?" she asked, and proceeded to imitate Blake to the point of mocking, a grin appearing on her face when the latter one couldn't stop a laugh from escaping her lips. "Come on, Blakie, please tell me what's wrong?" she said as she smiled warmly, and draped her arm around the older girl's shoulders.

Blake smiled, raising an eyebrow, "Blakie?" she asked. Ruby raised her shoulders as her smile grew a little bigger. "Look, it's nothing, okay? I promise. It's just that—I talked with my parents and they seemed kind of weird; so I'm a little worried, that's all." Ruby removed her arm from Blake's shoulders and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Honest," said Blake, only to receive a raised eyebrow from the other girl that caused her to sigh. "I'm sure it's nothing so let's just drop it, okay? Why don't we talk about something else?"

"Like?"

"I don't know. Anything really... what are you planning on doing this summer?" Blake offered a half forced smile that did nothing to convince Ruby to drop the subject.

"You know perfectly well what I'm going to be doing this summer, Blake. Your attempts to change the subject are pitiful." Blake blinked once, her bow twitching ever so slightly, let out a frustrated sigh, and started to walk away from a very much taken aback Ruby.

"What the—Hey! Where are you going? We're leaving soon!" yelled the younger girl as she ran behind the other one. "Where are you going?" she asked, grabbing Blake's arm when she finally caught up with her.

"Home. The airship will be leaving soon, which means you'll be leaving, so I need to get home." Blake's answer only managed to confuse Ruby even more.

"Uh… the airship is that way. You know, where we had been standing like a minute ago…"

"I know."

"Then how are you gonna get home if you—"

"Same way I got here. I'll walk." Ruby's eyes squinted in question, and her mouth opened slightly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear you. You're gonna _walk_ home? You do realize we're on top of a cliff, right? A very _tall_ cliff—"

"Airships don't go where I live," answered Blake simply, and raised her shoulders.

"Where you…" it dawned on Ruby that she had never looked into that subject, "where _do_ you live?"

"Outside the kingdoms." Blake's short replies had begun to tick the red haired girl off the wrong way.

"Where—" she tried asking again, but she didn't have the chance to finish.

"Outside," was the Faunus girl's answer, and Ruby had had enough.

"Fine!" she exclaimed after letting out an exasperated sigh. "Do what you want, see if I care!" she turned her back to Blake dramatically, and started walking, fighting the urge to look over her shoulder. When she was a few paces away, her anger faded, and her shoulders slumped. '_I do care…' _she thought, dropping her head, and she was ready to turn around when she felt a hand clasping her own. She stiffened, but only for a moment.

"I'm sorry…" muttered Blake, and smiled a small, albeit genuine, smile. "I know I haven't been the best... friend lately, but—"

Ruby's eyes grew wide, and she hastily placed a hand over Blake's mouth. "Shh!"

The older girl tried to protest, her voice coming out in muffled incoherencies. "Don't say things like that, Blake. Don't you know that negative thoughts are bad? They will like eat you up like a cookie and make you really think you're a terrible person!"

"So what?" asked Blake when Ruby cautiously removed her hand from her mouth. "And where did you even hear tha—"

Ruby tried to quickly change the subject, "Yang! There you are!" exclaimed the girl in red, shoving the Faunus girl aside, and ignoring her mild protests. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"I was right here. With you… waiting to board the airship, remember? And then you left…?" Yang threw a confused and somewhat suspicious look from Ruby to Blake and back. "What are you guys doing anyway?"

"We—" Blake begun, but had her speech cut short when Ruby stepped in front of her, and interrupted.

"We were just talking about how Blake is going to walk home, because apparently airships don't go where she lives," said the girl innocently. "Isn't that weird?"

"Uh… Not if she lives outside the kingdoms, it's not," came Yang's answer, and Ruby's jaw fell slightly for the second time that day.

"You… wait. You knew that... How did you..." Ruby was looking from Yang to Blake, too confused to be able to form full sentences.

"I told her," came Blake's somewhat indifferent voice from behind her.

"I'm sure Ozpin could arrange something for you, though," continued Yang. "Climbing down the Beacon Cliffs probably isn't the safest way to leave."

"No, it's okay. I could actually use some time to myself," replied Blake. "Now come on. You guys are going to be leaving soon, and I wanna be there to see you off," she made an attempt to link her arm with Ruby's, but sighed and gave up when the latter would have none of it.

"Took you long enough," Weiss' voice sounded above the crowd as she made her way to the three girls. "If I miss the airship because of you three, I will _not_ forgive you."

"Don't tell me you're going home with us mere peasants and not using your own private airship," commented Blake, earning a glare from Weiss, and laughs and a pat on the shoulder from Ruby and Yang. "Why are you so eager to go home anyway?" she asked.

"For your information, Father and I have a lot to discuss when I get home," said Weiss, and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Not that it's any of your business," she muttered. "So can we get going now?"

"And can you _please_ stop being such a control freak? The airship is still here, we're not gonna miss it."

"Uh, it's called being punctual. Thank you very much," at that, Weiss turned on her heels and headed towards the gangway.

"Well, looks like we have to go," chuckled Yang.

"Yep. I'll call you!" exclaimed Ruby as she leaned in to hug Blake. "Have a great summer!" she added when the two girls broke their embrace, Yang watching them somewhat intrigued. "Have lots of fun, and please be careful on your way down… are you sure you don't want to ask Ozpin to arrange something for you?"

"Yes, I'm sure," she replied. "You should go now, Weiss doesn't look too happy." The three girls turned to see a very annoyed Weiss, glaring daggers at them. "Have fun guys." Blake turned to leave, but was stopped by Yang's loud voice calling after her.

"Hey! Where is my hug? You can't leave like that!"

"Oh, uh… S-sure…" was all the Faunus girl had time to say before being squished into one of the tightest hugs she had ever experienced. "I can't- breathe!" she managed to say, but her voice was barely heard.

"We're gonna miss you!" exclaimed Yang when she finally released Blake from her iron hold.

"I'm gonna miss you too, guys," said Blake, throwing a knowing look at Ruby, and turned around to leave, this time in large strides, so that Yang wouldn't have time to decide that she wanted another hug.

* * *

Blake looked at the cliff before her and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Getting up had been no problem, but the descent was going to be an entirely different issue.

She pulled the blade from her back and examined her situation again. She could just jump down, and hope her aura could make up the difference in the landing. It had worked fine for her the previous time she did it. Of course, this was much farther down than at initiation, and the area below her was bare rock. So maybe her landing technique wouldn't be enough this time.

Blake threw the Gambol Shroud down, imbedding the blade into the rock face below. She figured she'd probably shoot herself at least twice on the way down, but her scroll said she could cover it, so she turned around and began to climb down the sheer face.

Now, climbing up a steep cliff is quite difficult, but climbing down one is infinitely more so, and Blake was quickly beginning to realize that her plan for getting home might not have been the best. She was continually missing footholds, and, as this wasn't enough, her support was underneath her, meaning she would still fall some distance before stopping.

The Faunus girl wrapped some of the slack in the line around her arm and took another step down. She slowly started getting the hang of it, and she let her mind wander as she made her way down. The first thought that popped into her mind was that she had never actually tested to see if her weapon could maintain a hold if she were to fall. Sure, she could swing from the sword, but this was different, and it was starting to bother the girl.

Her foot slipped off of another hold, and the brunette's heart skipped a beat as she kicked to a different one. Another step.

She began to think about Weiss. The girl seemed devastated by the marriage; Weiss had barely even spoken to anyone after she found out, and people had started comparing the "new Weiss" to Blake herself. Blake took a moment to think about the wedding. She figured it was probably going to be the wedding of the century. Every tabloid would be there, telling all the lies they could; the entire Schnee family would be in Atlas, all in one place, probably raising the property value with their very presence.

The girl rolled her eyes at the thought of how lavish and pretentious it would be. The event would be a week long, everyone covered in jewels and precious metals... One could probably pan the leftover drinks for gold afterwards. The glitter would probably be made of gold too, and the confetti would be encrusted in diamonds and platinum. A snort of disapproval escaped her lips. They would certainly be wearing the finest silks and fabrics of exotic lands. The men's socks would match their ties, which would match their women's undergarments. The parasols and canes would be gilded and polished just for the occasion. Out from the cellar would come a bottle from 1702, and everyone would have a lavish party of sorts only a true snob could have, complete with polo, dressage, croquet, peasant hunting, and golf tournaments. There would be a dog show, and horse races... The very air would smell of perfumes and colognes, bottles of which were worth more than a new car, and the centerpiece would be the Schnee Crystal, a five hundred carat uncut freeze crystal, harvested from the Schnee quarry. Massive bolt engines running lights so bright they could be seen from space would supply power, and the people would go through more Earl Gray than there was in all of Atlas.

Blake shook her head and sighed. Everything would be paid for by the tears of dying kittens and the products of Faunus labor the Schnee Dust Company outsourced to Menagerie, no doubt. Workers there were paid less than one lien an hour to cut and grind dust from the Schnee quarry. "Capitalism," she muttered.

Blake made it to the Gambol Shroud and pulled it from the cliff face, preparing to plant it another fifty feet down.

* * *

Blake opened the door to the foyer of sorts and stepped in. The Faunus had just gotten back after a three hour hike from Beacon to the place she had learned to call her home.

After dusting herself off a little, and setting her things down, she prepared to take a long overdue nap, and headed into the main room. She began to undress as she made her way down the hall, taking off her bow first.

When Blake entered the room, she was shocked by the sight before her. The girl's parents were there, sitting around the table, waiting for her.

"Why are you two here?" she asked, rather bitterly.

The two looked at each other, and then back to their daughter, "We have a matter of business to discuss with you."

Blake sighed, "For the thousandth time, I am not returning to the White Fang, and I never will." She could hear a chair creek.

"We aren't here to recruit you, Blake," her mother said, "We have something else to discuss." Blake blinked, and her mother proceeded in a manner she thought her daughter would relate to, "The past few years have been difficult for all of us, Blake, and I know you want to see a more peaceful relationship between humans and the Faunus race." Blake nodded, and her mother hesitated, "We… We have made a deal with a powerful human that should aid you in this goal."

Blake thought for a moment, it seemed like a good idea, except for one small part, "When have you two started caring more about what _I_ want, and not what the White Fang wants?"

Her mother sighed, this probably wasn't the best time to lie to her daughter, "The human offered us a deal." Blake blinked again, "He said if we went through with the arrangement, he would begin investing in strides toward helping assimilate the Faunus into society."

Blake turned her head slightly; something about this didn't seem quite right, "Why do you need me?

* * *

"Weiss!" Her father's voice echoed through the halls of the mansion the minute she opened the door and set her suitcase down. No, Orich Schnee had not sent their private airship to pick her up from the Academy, he hadn't even come to greet her; and the tone of his voice told her that greeting her was not a priority on his list that day. Although, in reality, she was lucky he even took the time to remember she existed, albeit only as a way to create additional revenue. Weiss took a deep breath and followed her father's voice to the place he was always at: his office.

"Y-Yes, father?" her tone was somewhat uncertain, stuttering a little as she walked in the room. The man was sitting behind a desk, reading a piece of paper, showing no sign of acknowledging her presence.

"Sit," he said, pointing to the chair across from him with his head, his eyes never leaving the paper. She didn't know why, but Weiss felt the need to swallow hard before walking to the place the man had indicated, and sitting down.

A few moments later, her father raised his head and removed his glasses, his eyes examining his daughter from head to toe. Weiss straightened her back the moment her father's eyes fell on her. She had been taught at an early age that proper ladies never slouch, and now she was just doing it on impulse whenever her father was around.

"I'm sure you know what I want to talk to you about," her father started, not really waiting for an answer.

"Of course I do," muttered Weiss. "It made headlines after all, didn't it?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that ladies-"

"Ladies don't mutter. I know," Weiss resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and folded her hands neatly on her lap.

"The wedding is scheduled to take place next month," the girl's eyes widened at the simplicity of her father's tone.

"Next month? You can't be serious, father! We need more time to-_I_ need more time…" her voice faded. She knew this was going to happen, she always knew, and she thought she was ready for it. Hearing her father's words, however, made her realize that maybe, just maybe she wasn't as ready as she thought she was. "Can I at least know who my future husband is?" she asked when her mind caught up with the fact that she didn't even know who the person she was supposed to marry was. "Unless I have to wait and see him at the wedding…" she mumbled.

"You're not going to see him at the wedding, Weiss, simply because it is not a 'he'." Weiss' jaw dropped, and she could swear that her heart had stopped beating, as she turned to stare at the man, her eyes wide in surprise and disbelief.

"A girl?" she asked, trying to keep her voice as level as she possibly could.

"A Faunus," his voice had more than a hint of discontent, "it is also female," his reply only managed to confuse her even more. "I believe you may even be acquainted with said animal," Orich continued, his eyes once again going over the documents on his desk, not paying attention to the girl in front of him.

"I know her? How would I know any Faunus? You never even let them near me as a child, choosing to lie to me about what they were instead. The first time I met a Faunus was…" Weiss paused as her mind caught up with what she was about to say, but it couldn't be so, there was no way her father would marry her to that woman. The blonde swallowed before speaking again, "Who-who is she?" Weiss was trying hard to keep her voice calm and collected. She knew perfectly well where yelling at her father would lead. The man looked around his desk for a moment, before grabbing a piece of paper; he threw it at his daughter's feet, his head never raising to look at her. Weiss sighed and rolled her eyes as she bent over to pick the paper up, which had landed face down. It was a photo.

Weiss' eyes grew bigger than she ever thought possible, and her breath got caught in the back of her throat as she took in what she was seeing. Her mouth moved up and down as if trying to speak, but no sound came out. Her eyes examined the picture thoroughly, and then darted from it to her father and back. How was that possible?

The picture was that of a girl alright, a girl Weiss had grown to know all too well the past year. A girl whom she thought would never be her friend, a girl who had kept a huge secret from her, and yet somehow Weiss had managed to look past that and forgive her, and a girl she had never even imagined would accept such a preposterous arrangement, a girl who's heritage she didn't even know anything about when they first met.

"Blake…" the name came out as barely a whisper from the girl's lips. Weiss felt her face growing hot, and she clutched the picture, crumpling the edges a bit. Before she knew it, she was on her feet, the picture completely crashed into a ball, and her face red. "WHAT?! How could you do that to us?"

"Do _not_ raise your voice at me!"

Blinded by rage, Weiss didn't even notice her father's hand until it was too late.

* * *

Meanwhile, a very similar conversation was taking place somewhere outside the kingdoms.

"What do you mean I'm getting married?!" Blake was breathing hard, trying vainly to calm herself.

"It's not up to you, Blake. Sit down and listen!" her father hissed at her; but knowing his daughter, he was not going to get what he had asked for.

"Not up to me? It's _my_ marriage, it's my _life_, and it's not up to me? Whose call is it to make then? Yours?" No, the girl was not just going to sit there and accept everything her once-dear parents had to throw at her.

"Yes! It is our call to make! You're our daughter, and you do as we say!" her father yelled, rising to his feet in an attempt to intimidate the younger feline. Blake knew in an instant that her already strained relationship with her parents was going to take a turn for the worse.

"I am _not _your property! You can't make decisions like this one and just expect me to agree with them!" She whipped her head to where her mother was sitting, "And you're okay with this?!" she yelled, her arms flying around.

"_This_," started her mother, imitating the girl's actions, "is what has to be done, Blake. It is for the best." The woman's voice was calm and collected, but there was anger hiding underneath, just waiting to come out.

Blake wanted to scream. All this time, she had managed to create a persona that was mysterious, dark, and seemingly indifferent to pretty much everything; and now all she could do was watch it fall apart.

"For _who's_ best? Certainly not mine! You didn't even bother-"

Her father stood as tall as he could, "Blake! That's enough! We have made a decision and—" the infuriated sigh that escaped from the girl's lips interrupted the man, who glared at her, his ears folded all the way back, mirroring his daughter's.

"Do you even know who you're marrying me off to?"

"Of course we do, Blake. We're not _that_ bad of parents," came the mother's reply.

"Oh, of course," muttered the cat girl sarcastically. "May _I_ know?" she asked when neither of her parents showed any signs of speaking any further; though she was starting to gain suspicions of the answer. The man approached the table and grabbed a newspaper. Turning it to the first page, he handed it to Blake, who grabbed it from his hand throwing a glare at him.

Her eyes scanned the front page, "You can't be serious…" it was exactly who she guessed.

"You can't possibly think, after all this, that we are not serious," stated the man simply.

"How is this for the best?!" Blake had to try extra hard this time not to scream at her parents. "You want me to marry into the Schnee family! You actually bought me a spot in the family! Is that what good parenting is according to your book? Marrying your underage child off to some family who hates our kind just to ensure your personal gain?" By now, Blake's ears were no longer visible, hidden in her raven hair.

"Open your eyes, Blake!" it was her mother's turn to yell now. "It's not for our personal gain! It's for the good of all the Faunus people! Having a connection to that family ensures our well-being, our survival! If you could just see things the way we are, you could see that you're over-"

"No! Don't you dare say I'm overreacting, because I'm not! And I'm _not_ marrying Weiss!" she yelled and marched to her room.

"Blake!" The loud bang of the door closing made the Faunus couple jump in surprise.

Blake let herself slide to the floor, her back resting against the door, and wrapped her arms around her knees.

* * *

The door opened, and a ten-year-old girl ran through the room, her red dress flapping in the breeze, eager to tell her father all she had done that day. As she approached the entry, she was swept off her feet by hands as large as she was. Immediately a face nuzzled against her black and grey hair, "Who's my favorite daughter?"

"I am… Daddy," the girl tried to answer between giggles.

The man put her back down and looked her in the eye, "Do you think you can guess what I did today?" The girl pondered, it was a game they played: each time she guessed right, she got to tell him one thing about her day.

"Did you make any deals?" she asked. He shook his head, "Did you go shopping?"

"Sort of," he smiled, "your daddy just bought a small company in Atlas."

"What's Atlas?" the girl asked.

"It's a kingdom far off in the southeast, honey. Do you know what's most special about this company?" The girl shook her head, he smiled, "One day it's going to be yours."

Cinder cocked her head to the side, "Why?"

The man's smile only grew wider, "Because you're my favorite daughter, and it's your birthday."

**A/N: So... That happened. What did you guys think? As always, thank you for the alerts and reviews (except your review TSO. Your input is clearly not needed)!**

**P.S.: Since no one answered my question, the title of this story is a reference to "Springtime for Hitler" from **_**The Producers**_ **:)**


	4. Chapter 4

**TSO A/N: (12-2-14) ****This was long overdue, but here we are: chapter four. The delay was mostly because of laziness, but we were also waiting for Volume 2 to come to an end. Um... I think that's everything, so let's get started.  
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**For reference, use of season 1 Weiss and Blake's opinion of her is maintained in this story because it wouldn't be that interesting otherwise (the ship is practically canon by the Volume 2 finale). The actions of the villains in Volume 2 are also somewhat ignored, as is the season finale where Glynda used ctrl-z to turn a problem with great potential into nothing in particular. Some references to Matt the Mammoth Rider's recap series may also occur.  
**

**A small bit was removed from this chapter, but there really wasn't a need for it, it didn't work with the direction I planned on taking the story, and it didn't portray Weiss quite the way that I want her to be seen through this story:**

_**Blake stared at the screen of her scroll, the news was showing a video of Weiss standing on her balcony, a look of content on her face. Below, on the ground, there was a large fight among a crowd. The news reporter began to speak, "This afternoon in Atlas, three people, including a Faunus," Blake sighed, there was no need for that distinction, "died during a scuffle for money on the ground that summed to over 5oo Lien." The Faunus connected the dots in her head, she was reluctant to marry Weiss before, but there was no way she would marry the monster on the news willingly.**_

**TSO NEW A/N:** **(2-19-15) So, this chapter was started in like… late November, then we all had testing, then we had a break for Christmas, then we forgot to keep working on this as motivation fell, and then Rose couldn't decide if she liked the chapter or not, but hopefully we can get back on our feet again.  
**

**...  
**

**On to reviews (jfc, it's been so long! Sorry guys)**

**Thedoctor24601(guest): You will learn to ship monochrome or checkmate or BlakexWeiss or however you want to say it because this ship sails itself. 'Nough said. We won't stop writing! We may take unnecessarily long hiatuses, but we never stop!  
echoxknox: I think those cookies would be good right about now. Sorry for the delay! Hope you're still with us in this  
Guest: We started this story based on the idea that Blake is dating Ruby, but has to marry Weiss, mainly because we both shipped Ladybug at the time. But times change... (And stories get too complicated for their own good)  
DarkShaquille: Violence is wrong in any shape and/or form. Hey that rhymed! And be amazed. Our supreme writing skills are enchanting, are they not? :P  
ScytheReaper: The Producers is a very important movie after all!  
Blacksword 1 (guest): We are indeed just getting started. We have a lot in mind for this little story, so stay tuned :)  
Omega Collaborative: Thank you! Let's hope we don't disappoint with it**

**4.**

Orich Schnee sat at his desk overviewing what the wedding planner had sent, the cost for the wedding was exorbitantly high, and the plans extremely lavish, but there was one thing that was especially needed in order for the wedding to even be performed.

Orich tapped a button on his scroll and opened a line to an old friend of his. He didn't waste time with formalities once the other end connected, "Maroon, I need a favor from you."

* * *

Blake stared blankly into space; her eyes were pointed toward the device in her palm, but she wasn't looking at it. Instead, the Faunus was completely transfixed on the notion of being married to a Schnee.

Outside, the birds chirped and the red leaves fell as they always did, coating the ground and giving even the sky a red hue. Life simply went on. Inside, Blake sat on the bed in her hovel, scroll in hand, contemplating how everything had come to this terrible mistake.

"Blake Schnee," the girl muttered, shivering at the words, resisting the urge to groan in disgust. By this point, Blake had come to the conclusion that, should her and Weiss' "contract" be finalized, there was no way the dust tycoon would even consider letting her keep her family name; and he certainly wasn't going to be transferring the name of a lowly Faunus peasant to his precious upper-class daughter.

Returning her attention to the scroll in her hand, she prepared to make the call, taking a deep, calming breath to ready herself for the situation to come. Ruby, her team leader, had to be informed of the situation; but as her thumb hovered over the girl's name in the contacts, something crossed the Faunus' mind that made her pause. During initiation, Ozpin had said their partner was the person they should be closest to for their entire tenure in Beacon, but never once did he mention the relationship a student should have with the team leader. How would Yang take it if Blake called Ruby first? Would the girl feel hurt by the fact that her own partner chose to tell somebody else this news before her? Blake switched the contact to Yang before taking the time to think about how her team leader would react to the decision. Just as she was about to tap on Yang's name, Blake paused again. As if things weren't complicated enough as it was, the sisters lived together; they shared a room for all she knew. If she told one girl, the other would know before she could even connect and pretend that she called her first. And, of course, talking to Weiss about her feelings was out of the question. It would be a cold day in hell before that pompous brat showed a hint of consideration for someone other than herself.

Blake sighed as she put the scroll away and just layed there on the bed, staring up to the ceiling. To an observer, of course, it was obvious that Blake was stalling simply because she couldn't bring herself to admit that she had lost a battle with both her parents and the Schnee family so easily.

* * *

The Estate was in full preparation for the wedding to come. The furniture was being reupholstered, the carpet and drapes were being replaced, the cellar restocked, and the clothing measured. For some ungodly reason, those uncultured Faunus peasants had demanded the wedding take place before the summer let out, and, among the staff, rumors had begun flying around of the Faunus family and the wicked things they planned to do with the Schnee name. There was no limit to how such lowly scum as them could swindle away the money and prestige tied to the Schnee name, nor was there any way those imbeciles could possibly improve the family.

Weiss stood on the currently bare concrete floor, being measured for her dress. It was a custom design by the great Lauren himself, only fitting for someone of her wealth and taste.

"Your father married you to a woman of Faunus background, they say," he pulled the measuring tape over her chest, "Bust: 20," his assistant took the measurement down.

Weiss sighed, "I know the Faunus personally, an ex-member of the White Fang; she tried to get us all killed at the end of first semester."

The man raised his eyebrows, "Ooh, do tell. Underbust: 19.5."

The young girl's head whipped around, her eyes glaring at him, "You must have measured that incorrectly!"

He looked at her and scoffed, "Never question my measurements, darling. Now, the story! You have me intrigued."

Weiss sighed, at this point she must have told the story about the night at the docks to at least fifty people, including the police. Of course, she did leave out the part about her not even being present for the actual encounter with Torchwick, but the story was still just fine without that detail.

He thought about it for a second, "Wait, your leader was shot by Torchwick, but survived?"

The girl blinked, she had forgotten that this man wouldn't understand what aura was. "Yes."

He stared at her for a second, obviously not believing the story, "How could she have done that?"

Weiss chose to go with the world's usual explanation of everything instead of explain aura to him, "Dust, probably." She raised her shoulders indifferently.

"Oh. I didn't know dust could do that." He shrugged, "'It's a wonder material,' they say."

Weiss sighed in an attempt to show both her annoyance and her boredom, "How much do you still have to do?"

He glanced to his assistant, who checked for any blank values then shook his head; he looked back to Weiss, "It appears my work here is done for now."

Weiss nodded, "Then you are dismissed," the man nodded in return, and turned to leave with his assistant as Weiss retired to her room.

The heiress walked over to her balcony and looked out over the estate. It was a pleasant view, no doubt about that, with a large fountain and hedges beneath. In the distance, one could see the sun setting over the Mountains. "Remember that one day this will all be yours," she sighed, trying to comfort herself, "yours and Blake's."

That old comfort she used to find with that childhood statement was gone now.

* * *

Blake sighed for the fifth time as she watched the news on her scroll later that night. She still hadn't managed to call any of her team about the problem at hand.

Nothing interesting was happening in the world, and there wasn't any news of the White Fang's activities this week. Even though she claimed to have nothing to do with the organization, she often found herself seeking news of their activities and current goals. The girl's mind wandered for a moment, her eyes carelessly scanning the page, before she noticed that Weiss was on the news. Blake knew it was probably just celebrity propaganda, but she watched it anyway.

"As preparations for the wedding of the century continue at the Schnee estate..." It occurred to the Faunus girl for the first time that not only was Weiss' wedding the story of the century, this was her wedding was as well; the entire world would be focused upon her on that day. Blake immediately returned to her vision of the Schnee wedding, but now with herself in the center of it all. She shuddered slightly. Everyone was speaking to her, invading her space, and talking about her. The Faunus couldn't actually hear what they were saying, but she knew that the people there didn't approve of her, and she began to panic as she realized the meaning of such a big event centered on her. There was no way she could handle the mere thought of it now, and there was no way she could manage to survive the day she envisioned.

When Blake's focus finally returned to the news, the reporter was interviewing some self-proclaimed expert on the wedding. "There are rumors that the mysterious spouse may actually be a woman, what is your opinion on this?" she asked and turned the microphone over to the person the Faunus girl didn't recognize.

"Well, Lisa, there isn't much known about the suitor that was accepted. The person that placed the bid appears to be completely unrelated to the actual suitor, and the money trail disappears in a bank in Vacuo. All I can say is that I'm sure the suitor is a playboy billionaire with some darker connections that the Schnee company valued over the immediate value of the higher bids. Don't be surprised if the Schnee company turns to a shadier clientele in the next few years."

Blake couldn't tell whether to be insulted or relieved. It appeared that her parents had used the White Fang bank in order to hide the money trail. At the very least, no one knew she was a poor Faunus from outside the kingdoms, or that she was an ex-terrorist in an organization bent on destroying the very family she was being wed into. On the other hand, the news was convinced that she was essentially Roman Torchwick and that her only goal was to marry into the family for the money. She let out a breath, and turned off her scroll, placing it on the piece of wood she called a table.

A few hours ticked by, with Blake staring at the sky through a hole in the wall as she considered her future again, until a knock on the door was heard. The girl immediately sat up, her ears stretching, trying to catch even the slightest of sounds. Not only was she not expecting anyone, but nobody should have known where this place was. She created it to hide from the White Fang after deserting, and it served it's purpose well for the past three years; but now, in the past two days, both her parents and now whoever these people were had all discovered her location.

The Gambol Shroud was lifted from it's resting place as the Faunus approached the source of the offending noise. With the weapon on her back, Blake looked out a hole in the door to see that there were five people standing outside her home. Four were dressed as Atlesian soldiers, and the fifth was dressed in a white coat and grey slacks, a style reminiscent of the huntsmen from Atlas.

Blake cautiously opened her mouth, "What do you want?"

The soldiers were slightly thrown off guard; most likely expecting the door to open before any kind of response came. The huntsman spoke first, having completely expected the fellow huntress to keep her guard up, "Blake Belladonna, we are here to inform you that you must accompany us to Atlas for legal processing." The girl froze in place. There was no way that the police of Atlas could have possibly linked her to any of the crimes she had committed, past or present without having first captured a White Fang base.

"What happens if I refuse?"

The huntsman stared back at her eye through the hole in the door, "You will be charged with the crime of perjury and resisting arrest. I have been authorised to forcibly remove you from the area, if need be."

This began to make less sense by the second, "Who sent you?"

"The supreme chancellor of Atlas." Blake looked away from the door. If she refused or ran, more would come in their place. If she fought, there would be no forgiveness for the crimes she had committed… if she was caught.

The huntsman had already backed away from the door, but the soldiers stood at it's sides. The flimsy piece of wood collided with the man, and he could hear the distinct sound of an armoured body striking the ground. By the time he cleared the wood chips out of his face, two of the men were already down. He was told she would resist arrest when he asked why he was being sent for this task. The man pulled off his coat and hung it on a tree. Cuffs in hand, he approached the girl from behind, in an attempt to catch her off guard. His plan seemed to be working. As Blake's left arm came back for a swing, the huntsman clipped her wrist into the ring with practised skill. This was always the easy part.

He made an attempt to pull the girl's arm flat against her back, but Blake immediately spun around and faced him. She raised her right arm and swung at his face. Instead of connecting, the man dodged and caught her hand with his right one before immediately uncrossing and spreading his arms out. Blake let out a yelp as her shoulders were pulled together across her front. The hunstman then lifted his hands and led her left arm behind her back. Instinctively, Blake turned to face away from him, attempting to pull out of his grip. The second clicking sound was when she realised her mistake; her hands had been bound. Blake growled in disgust as she accepted her second defeat this week and stopped fighting them off.

The man leaned forward and spoke into her ear, "There, was that so difficult?" Blake only glared at him.

As the five led Blake into the cage, the huntsman began to wonder why exactly her capture had been ordered.

* * *

A twelve year old girl stood at the balcony of her new home, "One day it will all be mine," she repeated, looking out over the workers installing a fountain and the hedges, all the way out to the mountains in the distance. The sun was setting and darkness took the sky. It slowly dawned on her exactly what that statement from her youth truly entailed. The girl didn't even know what she would do with it all, much less how she could ever live the life that she was destined for; and yet here it was, laying before her in plain view. She was sure that, eventually, she would figure out a use for it; but at the moment, she was at a loss for words.

"What will be?" The girl turned to the source of the voice. Behind her stood her younger brother.

She smiled softly, "Come here." She lifted the boy up so he could see clearly over the guardrail, "Look out over the land. Everything that you see belongs to our father, and one day, all of it will be ours."

The boy tilted his head, "All of it?" his eyes began to glaze as he realized just what she was saying.

The girl nodded, "All of it." She put him down and he ran off. After a moment longer watching the sun set, she went and locked the door to her room.

The boy thought about what his sister had said. It was all theirs. All of it. All of it. It all belonged to him. His sister was quickly forgotten as he began to fantasize about what he could do with all of that.

**TSO A/N****: The technique above described for Blake's capture is occasionally used in those situations and is highly effective, so don't say her capture was too easy.**

**Thanks for reading! Again, sorry for the delay. Hopefully the next chapter will come much much sooner. Drop us a word or two and let up know what you think :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** **The opinions expressed by TSO do not necessarily reflect the opinions of our writing group as a whole.**

**Also, TSO and I need to stop getting attached to characters that have little to no screen time and character development, because that never ends well... Anyways, thanks for the follows, guys!**

**TSO A/N: (2-20-15) **

**Hopefully this chapter will come out faster than the one before it, but due to an addition in chapter 4, chapter 5 is now chapter six (And due to my inability to stay focused on matters at hand, most of my contribution to chapter six was actually written at the same time as chapter two, so at least the schedule for the release of six should be sooner than the rest.) **

**Atlesians (Weiss's people) are portrayed as extremely ****Republican** **racist. We also assume Blake has never been to Atlas. **

**Okay readers: your homework is to pet a cat's ears. They are soo damn soft.**

**Also, shoutout to Fatmanfalling's RWBY reviews. They are great.**

**...**

**DarkShaquille: We're still using Volume 1 Weiss, so she's still a racist little bitch. Just keep that in mind :P Also, not such long a wait this time, see?**

**5.**

Blake stared at the mirrored window on her right. She could hear the people behind the glass, but they eluded even her vision. Across from the table was another Atlesian soldier. The Supreme Chancellor of atlas was seated behind the glass, overseeing the interrogation.

The man stared at the faunus girl, "Do you know why you are here?"

Blake eyed him carefully, "I would like to speak to my lawyer," she said in her calmest voice.

The man scoffed, "Only citizens of Atlas are granted that right." The girl's composure faltered slightly, amber eyes meeting green in a challenge of willpower, "You are being held under the request of the Supreme Chancellor of Atlas as an enemy of the state. A warrant was placed for your arrest."

The Faunus girl blinked a couple of times, her mouth hanging slightly open. "What?" she asked. "Supreme chancellor? Enemy of the state?" The man simply stared at her. "I want to make a phone call," Blake stated, going back to her stoic self. "I have rights."

The man snorted provocatively, "Your kind… you inhuman Faunus," he spat, her ears beginning to fall flat, "have no rights." Blake glared at him, her eyes darkening from anger as she began to seriously consider killing this man. She would have attacked him had one of her arms not been cuffed to the chair, and in a building that was full of Atlesian soldiers who would be more than happy to have her head. The man behind the glass smirked. He couldn't help but admire the... _creature's_ self-control.

After a brief moment, Blake opened her mouth to speak, "If you don't respect my human rights, which I know are guaranteed by the Atlesian Constitution, then I refuse to answer any of your questions."

The inquisitor chuckled, "You see, there's the crux of your problem, Ms. Belladonna: you aren't human, so human rights don't apply to you. The sooner you realize this the sooner we can get on with our investigation." The girl spat in his face, for lack of a better alternative.

Her catlike reflexes proved incredibly useful in dodging the man's hand.

The soldier rose, turning to the mirror beside him, "Keep her here until she is willing to cooperate." Inside, another officer nodded, heading to the door, a smile on his face. This was always his favorite part of investigations.

The door slid open as the inquisitor approached it to leave, the officer inside the booth entering the room. Blake looked up at him. '_Here we go,_' she thought as the man pulled out his nightstick.

The chancellor turned to his assistant, "Edmund, could you please bring a glass of wine for myself and this soldier?" indicating the inquisitor as he spoke.

The Chancellor then reached over to the intercom button, allowing for the man inside the interrogation room to hear his next request, "Before you get too excited, just remember to avoid the animal's ears and face, the bitch will be needing them for an upcoming event."

The officer's, "Yes sir," was followed immediately by a loud thud and a piercing scream.

The Chancellor muted the volume of their live feed, "We won't be needing any of that."

The inquisitor took his glass as the assistant returned, turning back to the Supreme Chancellor. "So, why did you order her arrest, anyway?" he asked, with only the slightest inkling of interest.

The man smiled slightly, "Orich Schnee asked me to capture her. He said, and I quote, 'My soon to be daughter in-law would sooner walk across the barren deserts of Vacuo barefoot before attending her own wedding willingly.' So, we made a deal."

The inquisitor raised his glass in a sort of informal salute, "Nicely done." The two resumed watching the show before them, turning back just in time to witness the officer deliver a particularly impressive strike across Blake's back that knocked the girl out of her chair.

* * *

Orich Schnee heard a knock at the door, "Come in."

A woman opened the door ever so slightly, "Mr. Schnee, I hope I'm not disturbing you," he shook his head, "the Supreme Chancellor is on line three."

His head immediately snapped up to look at the girl, "Oh, patch him through immediately."

A moment later the phone on his desk rang, his hands flying to the device at an incredible speed, "Talk to me, Maroon. How'd it work out?"

A faint chuckle could be heard on the other side, "Orich, we have her in the interrogation room right now. I'm hoping we can get it to learn to respect its place in society."

A smile came to the man's face, "Well, Maroon, you know what they say: 'It's easier to train an animal than a soldier.'"

A pause. "Well… this one seems to be posing some difficulty compared to others of it's kind." Now Orich's interest was piqued, "It appears that her time in Vale has made her forget that she is just an inhuman degenerate descended from a long line of other felines, not humans."

Orich nodded, "Those are always the exciting ones," memories of the war returned to his mind as he said that. His tone became a bit more formal again when he remembered why he had the girl arrested in the first place, "When can I come down and pick her up?"

* * *

Blake raised her head slowly, a trickle of blood running down from the side of her mouth, as she heard the door to the interrogation room open, and another man walk inside. From her position on the floor, the girl eyed his shoes first. They were shiny, black, obviously made from leather, and looked really expensive. Not something just anyone would own. His clothes seemed to be tailored especially for him, his suit dark and crisp.

The Faunus' eyes snapped upwards when she heard the man speak, "I thought I made it clear. Stay away from her face; she needs to be presentable." Blake noticed the officer on her right cower slightly at the sound of the man's voice, and her eyes widened when she finally realized who was standing in front of her.

The well-dressed man was none other than Orich Schnee himself, the man whom Blake had seen on numerous reports the past few days. Of course, she would have known who he was even if she had never seen him before. The man had shiny white hair and ice blue eyes. Naturally, Weiss was the spitting image of her father.

Her breath hitched when Orich stepped forward, leaning down to stroke the soft velvety fur of Blake's ear. A slight smile appeared on his face as the rest of his features softened, '_At least her ears are intact._' The girl had murder in her eyes and he could see it, but she made no move to stop him.

The officer tried to save his dignity, "S-Sir, my dearest apologies—"

"Your dearest apologies?" Blake cringed and tried to cover her ears at the sound of him yelling right next to her. "Do you not see the damage you could do? If she were to appear in such a manner at her wedding the White Fang would start a riot! Right now, the military of Atlas is off defending some festival in Vale. We are completely defenceless against any form of social uprising!"

The Supreme Chancellor took that as his cue to enter the room, "Calm down, Orich, she'll be fine. The wedding is in a couple of months, I'm sure her face will heal up by then. Besides, she fell out of her chair and landed on her face." He held out a glass of wine for his friend.

"What if it doesn't? What happens if they see the damage?" the businessman refused to take the glass.

The Chancellor nudged the chalice toward Mr. Schnee again, "Orich, the Faunus is quite the rugged animal, if any questions are asked, just say that she fell off of a cliff or something. Nobody would question that."

Mr. Schnee sighed, "Maroon, you know as well as I do that cats land on their feet." Blake blinked at that remark. She certainly didn't land on her feet when she was knocked out of the chair. She didn't land on her feet when she fell out of a tree as a child. She didn't land on her feet when Torchwick shot her with a rocket. She learned how to do that when she was robbing trains with the White Fang.

Blake spoke before she could catch herself, "All huntresses land on their feet, you racist bastard!"

Orich simply resumed stroking her ears, finally accepting the glass from the Chancellor. He looked to the girl with a soft smile on his face, "Calm down, Blake," He tried to think of something reassuring to say, "you're safe now." And then immediately realized that wouldn't work this time.

Blake continued glaring at the man, '_What was that supposed to mean?_', then she decided to speak again, "For a world renowned businessman, you are doing a surprisingly underwhelming job at making me believe anything that comes out of your mouth."

Orich frowned before turning back to the officer and jerking his head toward the girl.

The man stepped forward and delivered another impressive hit to the girl's back. Mr. Schnee rose and started to address the officer, "Alright, we've cost the taxpayers enough. Free her and I'll take the animal home."

The man hesitated, looking into Blake's eyes. He could clearly see his death playing out in the girl's mind, "I—I," he pulled out the keys to her cuffs and held them out to Mr. Schnee, "You do it."

The instant the cuff on the chair was opened, Blake was upon the officer, fully intent on ripping his throat out.

* * *

Orich looked at the Faunus now chained to the seat beside him, "You know, you can face jail time for that stunt you pulled back there." Blake turned her head ostentatiously away from the man, and stared out of the window, refusing to acknowledge him. She tried to inch further away from him upon feeling his rough hand touching her ear again, petting it slowly. There was something addictively soothing about her ears, though he couldn't figure out why for the life of him.

Her back tensed and the hair on her neck stood up, "Stop touching me," she said, flicking her ear away from his grasp.

He shook his head with a chuckle, "Still free spirited… I see I'll have to work on that." With that, his hand resumed stroking her ear.

She flicked her ear out of his hand again and turned to stare the man down, "I am not your pet!" She growled, her voice determined, but with a hint of reservation and worry.

"No, you're not," said the man, "but you are going to marry into _my_ family. To _my_ daughter. I'm sure you can do the math." Blake's breath got momentarily caught in the back of her throat. This arranged marriage ordeal was going to be worse that she had imagined; and she had imagined the worst possible scenario.

The Faunus couldn't help but feel a wave of relief when she felt the man's hand move away from her head, and settle on his lap. Relaxing a little, the girl let out a soft breath and tilted her head, resting it on the window beside her.

* * *

Blake's eyes shot open as the car screeched to a halt. She mentally scolded herself for falling asleep at a time like this one, but the exhaustion she felt was unbearable. She felt the door open and quickly steadied herself, the last thing she wanted was to fall out of the car, and stumbled slightly as someone grabbed her arm, pulled her out abruptly and unlocked her handcuffs.

The girl resisted the urge to whistle, impressed by the sheer magnitude of the estate, and slowly followed Orich to the main entrance. A number of servants had gathered outside to welcome their master, and Blake saw Weiss standing in the front of the line. She wearing a white dress similar, but also different from her usual, everyday clothes. The heiress seemed less than happy to be there, her expression not doing much to hide her displeasure. It was true, the two girls had come a little closer during the school year, but a wedding between the two was something none of them had and ever would even consider. Blake approached, not really knowing where her and Weiss stood. Of course, she knew there was no way either of them would be okay with the current turn of events, but the Faunus girl couldn't help but wonder if the heiress was displeased enough with the situation that she should fear for her own health.

Orich cleared his throat, giving the Faunus a side glance, and Blake realized she had been rubbing her wrists where the metal of the cuffs had cut into her skin. She put her hands down and continued walking with him, the judgmental eyes of the servants weighing her down.

As they stopped walking, the girl noticed someone standing by the door. A girl, half hidden behind the door frame, was cautiously watching the Faunus. She seemed to be about the same age as herself, maybe a little younger. She was wearing a blue dress that reached her knees, and her dark hair hung loosely down, rolling over her shoulders and framing her face well. But there was something about her Blake couldn't quite place. Her blue eyes stared at the Faunus, making her feel somewhat uncomfortable. She seemed almost curious, as if she had never seen a Faunus before. If Weiss hadn't been standing right in front of her, Blake could have sworn that the person watching her was in fact her teammate, only with darker, shorter hair. And the fact that no one seemed to acknowledge the girl only made the Faunus' curiosity grow.

Orich nodded to the driver, who took his car behind the mansion, before looking back to Blake, "This is your new home," he said, roughly shoving her toward the edifice. As Blake walked through the door, the mysterious girl reached out and began to stroke her ears, an inquisitive look on her face. Her hands were gentle and warm to the touch, actually making Blake feel more at ease and reminding her of her mother. She didn't move away from the touch this time, finding a slight comfort to the offending hand. She willed herself not to move closer however, as not only did she have no idea who that girl was, but she could also feel Orich and Weiss' eyes burning holes into her.

If the outside of the mansion was impressive, Blake found the inside to be truly magnificent. She would never admit it, not even to herself, but, under different circumstances, she would gladly live in a place like this. She took a moment to stare at the arched ceiling, so tall, it made her feel tiny. Her eyes wandered over the various paintings on the walls, and the pieces of furniture, the position of which seemed to be very well thought out. _'Of course,'_ Blake sighed, _'in a place like this everything _has _to be in the right place.'_

"You will be staying in the first room on the left as you go up those stairs," Orich stated matter-of-factly, and Blake realized that Weiss hadn't uttered a word to her since they arrived. It was a small relief to see that she wasn't the only one who was not particularly excited about the whole thing.

"I'll be in my room if you need me," Weiss suddenly informed everyone, her tone regal and cold. "Which is right across from yours, in case you need anything," she added, but it seemed that she did so more out of obligation and less out of interest for the taller girl's well-being.

* * *

Blake was sitting on her new bed when the mysterious girl entered her room, a bowl of water and a dish towel in her hand. Blake scowled at her when she saw the bowl, "I guess it's time to water your new pet, isn't it?"

The girl paused, a look of confusion in her big blue eyes, "N-no, you can get water whenever you want, Ms. Belladonna." She continued toward the Faunus, dipping the towel into the bowl, "You just looked hurt, is all," she said, reaching out to Blake's face.

Blake's surprise grew when the warm wet cloth contacted the cut on her cheek, the girl's gentle hands carefully wiping the caked blood off of Blake's wounds. The Faunus looked at her, the fear slowly diminishing. This kind girl seemed so out of her element in a household of such hatred and intolerance. Blake finally allowed herself to look into those eyes as a pressing question came to her mind, "What may I call you?"

The girl stopped what she was doing, looking back into Blake's amber eyes, "W-Winter, my name is Winter; Winter Schnee."

Blake stared at the girl for a moment, running her eyes over the girl's black hair and her chiseled face, "You don't look like a Schnee." The girl glanced away, avoiding Blake's gaze. '_Apparently she's been told that before,_' Blake reached out to stroke the girl's cheek before she remembered who she was, and returned her hand to her side.

The younger girl sighed and tried to look back at Blake, "I've never really felt like one either," eye contact again, completely turning her head away from the Faunus. The girl finished cleaning Blake's face in silence before unbuttoning the Faunus girl's vest and moving to lift Blake's bloodied shirt.

Blake's hand immediately clasped the girl's wrist, "We won't be having any of that!"

Winter blinked, "But you're bleeding. You need medical attention."

"I'm not some pet to please your fantasies!" Winter stared at the older girl, her mouth slightly agape. She blinked a couple of times, opening and closing her mouth as if she was trying to say something, but the words wouldn't come out.

"I'm just trying to help," she said in a soft voice, her eyes nowhere near Blake's, too afraid of the look of repulsion she was certain the Faunus would give her.

"Yes, you're trying to help; to help yourself," Blake accused, and Winter felt like she had been slapped across the face. "Look, thank you for helping out, but I know how you Schnees see people like me. I am not some toy you can play with whenever you feel the urge to. I'm a person."

"I know that..."

"You obviously don't," Winter's soft gasp did little to make Blake rethink the words coming out of her mouth. "You act like a good person, Winter," she said, and hope returned to the younger girl's eyes, "but, no matter how different from Weiss and your father you look, you clearly still are one of them. And I'd rather die than have you touch me like that."

Winter stood up slowly, "I think I'll go now. It was... It was nice meeting you, Blake." She turned and left the room, refusing to cry in front of someone who apparently didn't deserve her tears.

The hallways were a blur as the heir presumptive to the Schnee estate ran to her room. Paintings and people passed purposefully in pantomime with the pace of her purebred gate as heads turned to follow the perturbed princess. The crying girl ran up the stairs at a furious rate as her destination, the door at the end of the hall, rapidly drew near. A servant bowed his head and opened the door as she approached.

She entered her room confused and crying. All she wanted to do was help the injured girl with the kitty ears; she had never even thought of taking advantage of Blake's injured state. Making her way to the bed, she plopped onto it as she pulled a picture she had stolen from her father many years ago out from under her her pillow, and stared at it. Weiss' solace may be found in her assurance of inheriting vast wealth, but Winter found comfort in this one image. It made her feel like she actually belonged to a family.

In her hand was a picture of her father from when he was much younger, about 14 years old, but that wasn't what interested Winter about the photo. Beside her father stood a woman that looked much more like Winter than any of the Schnees ever did. As she looked at the image, the shy girl traced her finger along the woman's sharp jawline, admiring her long black hair that faded to grey at the tips, and her tall, lean figure. As Winter continued to look at the picture, a tear rolled past the woman's fiery eyes; the only thing that made it apparent this woman wasn't Winter herself. Orich never would talk about this mysterious lady, but Winter knew better. She was certain this elusive woman was her real mother.

* * *

Cinder looked up at the building before her, "Father, why are we here?"

Her father looked at his daughter with a hint of a smile on his face, "It's a surprise."

"You know I hate surprises, father," stated the girl, giving the man next to her a suspicious look, "so you might as well tell me what it is right now, otherwise you're going in there alone." The man eyed his daughter disapprovingly; her fiery attitude, though a good trait for someone to have, always infuriated him.

"I'm sure you'll like this one, Cinder. Now come on, cut the attitude and start walking. You don't want to make the people wait." He begun walking with wide strides, not caring that the girl had to run to catch up with him.

"Keep your back straight, child. Have I taught you nothing?" her father hissed the moment Cinder felt herself relax a little. "This is a very strict and prestigious academy, they won't have any of your shit here so you better be careful. Do not get sent home within the first week. I'm paying a fortune for you to be able to study among the best."

"It's not like you can't afford it," Cinder muttered, but not loud enough for her father to hear. "And anyway, you know I didn't ask for this."

"Are you telling me you spent all those years training for nothing?"

"I spent all those years training because I wanted to, not because I had to. And if you had bothered asking me what I wanted, you would know that I have no interest in preparing my entire life for fighting monsters and chasing after bad guys only to die in a ditch somewhere the day I graduate," her tone was purposefully provocative, achieving what Cinder did best: angering her father.

Just as he was about to completely lose his temper and yell at his daughter, the door in front of him slid open, and a rather short, chubby woman stepped out, wearing an atrocious green and orange dress that almost resembled a night gown, "Ah, you must be here to enroll at Beacon. Right this way."

As they both stood, the man looked at his daughter and said one final thing before turning to leave, "My one rule for you, Cinder," his voice low and threatening, "is that you keep your legs crossed. I don't even want you to have a boyfriend, you hear me? You need to stay pure for the suitors to come in your future."

The girl nodded as he turned to leave, "Yes, father."

When her paperwork was completed, Cinder turned around and headed to the main auditorium, where the other first-years were gathering. Then she saw him standing there. He was tall and fair. His black hair was well kept and his piercing green eyes spoke directly to her soul. Her father's words of warning were immediately forgotten at the sight of him.

Cinder had no idea how she was going to explain this. The young woman held up the long thin strip to the light so she could see it and make sure. Positive. Again.

* * *

**TSOA/N****: Well, that was rushed, but I feel like it was a solid chapter. Review if you're reading this.**

**SO… we didn't have to delete anything this time, but there was something I was strongly considering for a while, so you still get some bonus content from me. Rose helped a little bit. (You used to have a different bonus content planned, but this was more interesting. Thank me later.)**

_**The Faunus reached up to caress the younger girl's cheek with her thumb, wiping away a tear that formed, "Winter, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, it's just that you seem so different from the rest of your family."**_

_**Winter turned back to Blake, "It's all right, everybody tells me that," she said, finishing up the older girl's face. Her hand moved to unbutton Blake's vest and lift her shirt to keep cleaning the Faunus's wounds. **_

_**Blake looked into the girl's deep blue eyes before helping Winter undress her. Winter picked up the towel again, but hesitated when she realized Blake was taking off more clothing than she needed to, the girls bra flying off in a random direction. Her eyes went wide when she felt the other girl's arm wrap around her head and pull her in for a kiss.**_

_**The younger girl didn't know what to do, but fighting the other girl off seemed like a bad idea. This left her with only one option. The towel fell from her loosening grip, and her hands found their way to Blake's hair, her fingers playing with the long strands as she deepened the kiss.**_

_**Blake took the opening as a good sign and immediately pushed the girl onto her back, the bowl of water tipping and drenching both the girls. Blake's other hand worked it's way to Winter's thigh, smiling as she heard a soft moan coming from the younger girl as her eyes fluttered closed in ecstasy.**_

_**The Faunus continued her assault of the younger girl, breaking the kiss to gently nip at Winter's right ear. Winter's back stiffened at the contact as her breath began to deepen. The older girl began to lift Winter's skirt, her soft fingers slowly moving towards the edge of her white cotton panties.**_

_**The younger girl's eyes shot open as she felt Blake's fingers get dangerously close to her centre, sudden panic washing over her. She grabbed Blake's wandering hand before it could fall between her underwear and her body, causing the Faunus to stop what she was doing and stare at her in confusion.**_

"_**What…?" Blake asked, but didn't have time to finish her question as Winter had already got off the bed and made a mad dash for the exit.**_

"_**I have to go!" she exclaimed hastily, slamming the door behind her. **_

_**Blake sighed and pursed her lips, "That didn't go as planned." **_

**Sorry, folks, but let's keep this at least PG-13. Of course, once A Rose For Rose and I got into it, we couldn't stop writing, so the rest of this bonus content is in a new story called Flirting With Disaster. Please do not read it if you are under 18. **

—**TSO**

**Yeah, 4724 words in one chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Longest chapter yet! Woot woot! This took us sooo much longer to finish because we came up with so much extra stuff for it. So much extra glorious stuff :P And we may also have maybe kinda procrastinated a bit because Cinder is freaking hard to write...**

**_TSO A/N_:** **3-13-15: Okay, chapter six shouldn't take us any time at all. All we really have to do is assemble existing components and then fabricate a little bit of stuff.**

**_TSO A/N_:** **3-22-15: Okay, so this chapter took far longer than we anticipated, but only because we ended up with a lot in the wedding, and then we wrote an incredible amount in the month before the wedding, simply because we were avoiding the Cinder part at the end. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORDS upon words were written in procrastination, but this also gave birth to one our absolute favorite scenes we have ever written: Winter teaching Blake to dance. I kid you not, we actually chose to learn how to dance instead of writing the Cinder section, but the resulting scene is undeniably beautiful. Fun fact: Winter was only ever supposed to have two lines in our whole story merely so we could acknowledge her existence. Both were in the wedding, and neither made it into the story.**

**Why is Cinder so hard to write?**

**Again, shout out to fatmanfalling's youtube reviews of RWBY. If you haven't watched them, you're missing out on the best part of RWBY. **

_**For most of this chapter, you will want to have waltz playing in the background. It will maximize the effect. Especially during the dance lesson part and maybe the newlywed's first dance too. **_

**Look out for the Velvet cameo at the wedding reception! **

—**TSO**

**Remember how I said that TSO and I should stop getting attached to characters who have no screen time because that never ends well? Too late! Winter is our new favorite character now. Everyone get on board!**

**If you don't review, TSO will murder your first-born child. But no pressure.**

**...**

**~DarkShaquille: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! And prepare to dislike the father even more. Also, there's another Frozen reference in there. Pretty hard to miss :P**

**6.**

The unfamiliar sound of church bells awoke the sleeping Faunus, who looked up to see that Winter girl hiding in the corner, the shy girl tried her best to look the Faunus in the eye "My father sent me to tell you that he needs your invitation list for the wedding."

The Faunus clenched her hand into a fist, and jumped out of the bed, "Were you watching me sleep? Get out of my room!"

The younger girl cowered in fear, her eyes wide as she retreated further into the corner, stammering her response, "N-No Blake, I-I wasn't watching y-you at all." Winter tried her best to look away from the nude form before her, failing miserably. The Faunus was covered in bruises and cuts, only serving to remind Winter of the previous day.

The curvaceous girl became aware of her nudity and grabbed the bedsheets, using them to cover her body as best she could, as she continued to yell at Winter, "Can't I get a little privacy around here? Does your entire family think that I'm just some domesticated animal for your own pleasure?"

The girl looked up, her eyes watering as her lips trembled, "Blake, where is this coming from? All I've been so far is nice to you."

Blake gave pause, her amber eyes settling on the young girl. Icy blue orbs looked back, wide with terror. "Why should I believe you aren't like the rest of your wicked family? Why would you even want to be near me other than for personal gain?"

Winter calmed down now that the Faunus wasn't yelling. Looking down, she tried to remember anything from the con lessons her father taught Weiss long ago. She was going to need to play her cards well to get out of this, "Blake, my whole life, I've been living in this home, hidden from the world by my father. In this sheltered household, I lived with no one but my family, spending my life learning to be a leader in case Weiss is incapable of acting as heiress," she slowly lifted her eyes back to meet the Faunus's, "and that whole time, all I've ever wanted was a friend. And then… Then I saw you, Blake."

Blake hesitated for a moment, not sure what to say. Winter looked deeply into the Faunus's eyes, "Please, Blake. I'm begging you. Please just let me have _one _friend in the world. That's all I'm asking of you."

A tear slid down the young girl's face as Blake realised that she was probably being a bit catty. Winter was the only person that had approached her of their own volition the entire time she had been in the mansion, and she was pushing the young girl away. Blake's expression softened as the sheet slipped from her grasp, "I… Winter, I'm sorry, I…" Blake scolded herself for being so discriminatory as she moved down to hug the younger girl sympathetically.

Winter smirked once Blake couldn't see her face, _I knew the tear would do it_. Blake realized she was still nude a moment later and reached to reclaim her sheet, "I'm sorry I didn't trust you Winter, it's just that I thought you all considered me some kind of filthy animal. God, I'm just as terrible as your father." Winter placed her hand on the girl's head and lightly stroked her ears, "I can give you some time to compose yourself, if you'd like." The Faunus hesitated, then nodded. Winter stood and turned to leave the room, "If you need anything, Blake, just ask me for it, okay?" The door opened and closed as the girl made her silent exit, leaving Blake to her own thoughts.

* * *

Orich Schnee threw his scroll down on the table, an angry look on his face. "Winter, how did the news get these pictures?" On the device were images of the girl caressing a very nude Blake, a bedsheet cast to her side. The headline read, "People's Heiress Caught Bedding Her Sister's Future Wife."

Winter hesitated, partly because she was mildly impressed that those people at _Humans _magazine could get footage that quickly, but also because she was thinking of what her father would want to hear, "Well, I didn't _bed _her." She quickly dodged the very disapproving hand, having more experience with it than her sister, before resuming, "We had a heartfelt conversation is all. I want her to think that she belongs here, father." The hand paused, mid-swing, "It will make things easier…" her eyes turned to face his, "for all of us."

Orich let his arm fall back to his side, she wasn't wrong, but he couldn't admit that to her. He had to think of something. "Winter, why did you not discuss this with me before enacting your plan?" The girl blinked, he was supposed to like that idea. He even seemed to agree with it. How could that have gone wrong?

She didn't see the hand coming this time, for she was too lost in her own confused thoughts. The familiar feeling of soothing pleasure coursed through his body as his hand connected with the younger girl's face. The heir presumptive looked back at the man, her eyes darkening, as she lost her composure, "And I suppose Weiss would have spoken to you about this?"

"Weiss?" He scoffed, "Weiss doesn't have to. You of all people should know that, Winter."

She shifted slightly, resisting all the urges in her to fight back. "Of course, because Weiss is perfection itself," she spat.

There was a long silence as they stared each other down, his silence only reaffirming her statement. Winter was strong, but she couldn't match his practiced stare, and was forced to break first.

The girl scowled at him before turning to the door. "Don't you turn your back to me, young lady! You excuse yourself from my presence!"

Winter looked back and glared at him again, "May I be excused, 'O great and powerful Supreme One?" She left before he could answer.

* * *

"No, that's not where this is supposed to go. Did you people not check the planner?" Blake would recognize that voice anywhere; Weiss was ordering gardeners around again. "The lilies are supposed to go over there. The lilacs go here." She heard the heiress saying as she made her way down the stairs, and she couldn't stop a small smile from playing across her lips when she realized that someone, be it Weiss or someone else, had arranged for there to be lilacs; her favorite flowers. She didn't know how or why anyone there would know that, but it still made her a little happy to see that someone might have actually realized that this was her wedding too.

"Well, look who decided to grace us with her presence," Weiss stated when she saw Blake approaching. "Since you're here," she continued, holding up the swatches in her hands, "which one of these do you prefer?"

The Faunus looked at the cloth samples, and blinked in slight confusion, "aren't they the same?" Her question caused the heiress to roll her eyes dramatically and groan in frustration.

"You have been hanging around Ruby for too long," she said. "She's rubbing off on you," and with that she turned around in search of someone who would be of more help.

"Nice to see you're out of your room," came a voice from behind Blake that made her gasp slightly in surprise.

She turned to see Winter walking towards her, looking significantly more relaxed than when they had talked earlier. "Yeah," she muttered, not really knowing what to say next.

"I uh... I was just about to come upstairs to see if you have the list ready. My father is not a very patient man..." said the younger girl before adding a barely audible "sorry."

Blake looked at the paper in her hands, and then back up at Winter, "that's what I came down for. It's not much of a list really, but here." She handed the piece of paper to the girl, who couldn't resist the urge to unfold it and take a peek at the names. She frowned when she saw that there were only two written on it: Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao-Long. '_Well, at least she cares deeply for her team.'_

"That's it?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. "What about your family?"

"I'm sure they'll be here," replied the Faunus, adding, "Not that I would really mind if they weren't."

As Winter looked away, Blake caught a glimpse of the right side of her face. "Winter…" The Faunus hesitated for a moment, proceeding with caution "what happened to you?"

Winter's hand went straight to covering her cheek, "I-It's nothing, Blake. I just…" the girl tried to think of anything, "fell? Yeah. I fell down the stairs."

The older girl looked at Winter, _Does she take me for a fool?_ The mark was obviously a handprint, but she had only just met the girl, so she was forced to let it slide.

"I… I'm just going to give this to my father before he asks for it again," Winter stated, waving the piece of paper in her hand gently.

Blake could only nod as the girl hurried up the two flights of stairs to her room before anyone else noticed her darkening cheek. Behind the safety of the door, she let her hand finally fall from her burning cheek.

Winter opened a drawer at her desk, pulling out a small jar of foundation, quickly brushing the fine powder onto her damaged skin. Another jar and a dab of blush to make herself look human again, and she was good to go. The brunette sighed as she walked back out of the room, prepared to give the list to her father.

* * *

Blake stood in the ballroom opposite Winter. Mr. Schnee had ordered her to take dance lessons for her wedding; the younger girl had all but volunteered to be the Faunus's partner once she heard about this. Their instructor was trying to explain the left box to the Faunus, who was lost in a confusing diagram of the steps they needed to take. "Ms. Belladonna, this is a simple dance, you move your feet in this six count box." Blake continued to stare at the drawing, completely at a loss for where to even start.

The instructor sighed and took Winter's hand, turning to look at Blake, "Observe. You will be leading this dance at your wedding, so watch my feet, not hers." The two women then proceeded to dance a waltz, the woman's feet moved in a triangular pattern to the time of the music, "See? One two three, two two three, it's simple." She said before muttering under her breath, "Stupid animal."

'_You racist prick,'_ Blake's ears went flat as she yanked Winter from the other woman's grasp, preparing to copy the steps she witnessed, "I think I can try now." Blake grabbed the girl's arm, ready to show that woman off.

Blake nearly crushed Winter's dainty hand in her own, and the young girl let out a small yelp when she felt the Faunus clamp down on her well-formed rear. The instructor stopped the angered girl before she took her first step, "What do you think you are you doing?" Blake was about to start anyway before she felt a pointer slap against her right hand.

"Get your hand off there, you filthy Faunus!" The woman moved Blake's right hand to Winter's back, "This goes here! I never want to see you grab her like that again! Have you no shame?"

Blake was about to respond when she felt a hand gently stroking her ear. "Blake, please try to be civil, even if she isn't," Winter whispered to her. For some odd reason, the older girl found the contact incredibly soothing, and she nodded faintly in response. Winter smiled softly at her partner, "Blake, loosen your grip and place your right hand on my upper back," the Faunus did what Winter told her as the instructor watched, not certain if she should allow the girl to do this for her or scold her for taking over. "A little lower… Cup my shoulder blade, Blake… More like this," Winter slowly ran her hand over Blake's back to where the hand was supposed to go. The other girl followed and pretty soon they were both in the proper stance.

Winter looked deeply into Blake's amber eyes, "Now do you still remember those steps?" The older girl nodded and stepped off with her right foot, landing it on Winter's. "OOW!" The Faunus retreated hastily, a little perturbed by the snickering instructor. "Okay, Blake, let's start again. Look at my feet. You need to start with your left, bringing it forward to here." She indicated the place with her right foot, which Blake followed her to. "Then you take your right foot diagonally to here," she did the same, but with her left foot, "Then you bring your feet back together." Blake brought her feet together, and smiled slightly at Winter who nodded in approval. "Okay, now you do the same thing, only you move backwards, starting with your right foot this time," she moved her left foot forward, making Blake step back. "Bring your left foot right where you started… Good. And now you bring your feet together again."

They danced shakily for a few more minutes as Blake tried to get the hang of things before Winter spoke again. "Okay, Blake, you are doing well, but right now you're stiff as the general's iron wood. I want you to sway a little to the beat of the music, okay? This is pretty easy, just let your body loosen up and let your momentum carry you... Perfect." Winter's enthusiasm helped the older girl to get more comfortable, her movements becoming more fluid as time went by.

They danced and swayed to the music for a couple songs, and Blake was starting to get pretty good at the steps, only occasionally stepping on Winter's feet.

The Schnee went on to teach Blake various flourishes, such as turns, hesitations, even changing steps and different types of lead in. By this time, the instructor had left, their session having ended hours ago, but the two girls were still dancing, deeply entwined in each other's arms, neither wanting to break away.

Winter looked up at the Faunus, "Okay, Blake, there is one last very important move you will need to know."

Blake looked back to Winter, "What is that?"

"You will need to know how to dip Weiss down and then recover."

Blake looked at Winter skeptically, "Okay… Why is that important?"

"You'll see, just trust me. Now, when you do this, you need to take her head in your right hand on the first count... right there," Blake did so the next time the step came around, "good, then drop the arm on her back as you take the second step, the diagonal one with the turn. You will lower your arm with her, supporting her all the way down." Again, Blake performed the move as Winter described it, noticing that their faces drew incredibly close in the process. "At the third step, you will pull her back up and then return your hands on the fourth," Winter spoke again, and the Faunus felt her cool breath against her face. Nodding, Blake did exactly as she was told, when the count came back, "Okay," the younger girl smiled, "now let's do that all at once." The first count came and Blake followed the girl's instructions to a tee. Winter was amazed at how well the Faunus could dip; she had so much confidence in her, but never seemed forceful or aggressive.

"Blake, this is where the dip becomes important. Almost all Waltz music has a form called 'minuet and trio', and there are three basic parts to it. A minuet exposition, where the main theme is played twice, a trio where the second theme is played with a variation of the main theme all of which is repeated, and a recapitulation where the main theme is played one last time. I want you to listen for that in the next dance and tell me where the sections are, okay?" Blake nodded, she actually noticed this pattern earlier, but had thought nothing of it.

The next dance started, but Winter stood still, telling Blake to do the same. The younger girl wanted Blake paying attention to the music and not their steps. As the song went by, Blake accurately identified the sections she was hearing, even anticipating them, much to Winter's surprize.

"Excellent, Blake! Now this is why this all matters. You will have to do a first dance with Weiss at your wedding, right?" The Faunus nodded, "Okay, and you were wondering why I said the dip was so important?" Another nod, "I want you to perform a dip in the first measure of the recapitulation, but instead of pulling up immediately, I want you to hold it for a multiple of six counts, until that third step comes back around." Blake thought for a second, it seemed to make sense.

The next dance started and Blake did as she was told, dipping her partner when the time came, Winter looked deeply into the older girls amber eyes as their faces drew near, mere centimeters separating the two. "The importance of everything is that this is where you will kiss her," Winter whispered, gently closing the gap between them. Winter's lips slowly parted to allow Blake entrance into her mouth, which she took without hesitation.

Blake deepened the kiss, wanting more of the intoxicating contact, and felt Winter entwine her fingers in her hair and pull her closer. Their eyes fluttered shut, the two girls getting lost in their own personal universe as the music became a background accompaniment to the whole of their world.

The sweet ecstasy of the moment was too short lived, though. Twelve counts later, Blake reluctantly withdrew the kiss, finishing the dive exactly as Winter had described, and drew the latter back up to the proper stance. She heard a soft, disappointed whimper emanate from her partner as the kiss broke and their moment was gone.

"Good… Good... That was amazing…" whispered the younger girl, still in somewhat of a trance. "You're a natural." Blake could only smile.

The two girls met in the ballroom often from then on to practice their dancing. Blake said it was because she had nothing else to do; Winter claimed she wanted Blake to keep learning. The two would dance for hours in that room; sometimes with audience, sometimes without. People said they were some of the most natural seeming dancers they had the pleasure to witness, their movements soft, flowing effortlessly as one complemented the other in a most divine way. When they were alone, though, that's when they were able to truly be themselves, and the two would often "practice" the kiss at the end of the dance.

* * *

The day had come at last. The guests had started arriving early, and there were quite a few more than two on Blake's side. Weiss was having a rather heated conversation with her father, expressing her displeasure as she wasn't expecting there to be so many. "But, Dad, look at all those filthy Faunus!" she extended her arm toward a group waiting patiently in the pews, "They weren't supposed to be here. Make them leave! She only invited two!"

The man placed his hand on Weiss's shoulder. "Weiss, as much as it pains me to tell you this, we have to let them stay. The news would have a field day with you if they found out you kicked all the Faunus out of your wedding." Weiss crossed her arms in defeat before returning to the dressing room to finish getting ready.

As she moved down the hallway, she almost crashed into Ruby, who was leaning awkwardly on a closet door, "Weiss!" the girl nearly jumped out of her own skin. "Uhhhhhh… Hi, Weiss," she greeted, trying her best to smile calmly at the other girl.

The heiress blinked, "Ruby, what is going on? What are you doing here?"

The younger girl looked down the hall, "Umm… if you could just keep going where you were going, that would be cool."

Now Weiss was interested, "Ruby, what _are _you doing here?"

"Nothing. Just… Standing here." She lurched forward momentarily, the door moving with her, "Leaning against this closet door. It's uh… it's a nice closet… where did you get it, Weiss?"

The Schnee's face turned to a frown, "It was given to me by my grandfather when I was seven."

Ruby's eyes widened, "Wow… Really?"

"No, you dolt, it came with the house! Now, I am not going to ask you again. What are you hiding?" The older girl reached for the door handle, she didn't have time for games.

Ruby pushed the approaching hand away, panic apparent on her face, "No Weiss, you can't see her!"

Weiss was about to respond, when a muffled voice was heard from inside the closet, "Ruby, you better let me out of here this instant!" The door almost forced itself open; the young huntress was losing this battle.

Weiss stopped, her eyes narrowing, "Wait... Is that Blake?" She actually had some complaints she was meaning to discuss at length with her fiancé, regarding her uninvited family.

The girl pressed harder against the closet door and swallowed hard, "...No?"

"Ruby, you let Blake out of the closet immediately!"

"But Weiss, you can't see her; it's your wedding day!" The bride hesitated, she hadn't even thought of that.

The heiress nodded and quickly conveyed herself back to her dressing room without another word as Ruby stepped away from the closet. The door burst open, a very upset Faunus spilling out onto the floor.

Blake turned to look up at Ruby, "Shove me in a closet again, and you won't live to see the sunrise."

"But Blake, you can't see the bride on your wedding day!"

Blake glared at the girl as she got off the floor, "I already told you, I don't care about this nonsense."

Ruby sighed, "Blake, it's bad luck to see your fiancé on your wedding day." Blake glared at her for a moment before Ruby continued, holding out her hand for the Faunus, "Now, let's get you dressed for your wedding." Blake groaned and made her way back to her room, her feet dragging all the way there.

* * *

The doors to the church opened, the people gathered in the naive, sitting down at their assigned places in the pews, it was time. Blake and her father were gathered at the pulpit, along with Winter, Ruby, and the priest. The bells struck noon as the music started, signaling the arrival of the bride, and making everyone turn around to face the portals. Weiss rounded the corner, her left arm looped in her father's right. The room gasped, the bride was wearing a gleaming white dress, the light from outside making it seem to glow with an almost angelic beauty. Everyone's head followed the young woman as she strode gracefully down the aisle, slowly making her way to where Blake was standing. Weiss climbed the stairs and turned to face her fiancé, the Myrtenaster gleaming in the light, casting a glare onto Blake's black suit.

The Faunus stood wearing an outfit that Orich had picked out for her. Blake's hair cascaded across her shoulders, a black waterfall gracefully flowing over her upper body. Pearl necklaces around her neck only served to draw attention to the black coat and white shirt's low cut, letting a fair amount of skin show. The coat opened up at Blake's stomach, allowing for the tight corset to reveal her thin waist, flowing into black slacks accenting every curve of Blake's toned legs.

The heiress's hands were taken in the Faunus's as the priest began to speak. Weiss looked around at all the faces in her side of the crowd. She saw her father... her aunts, her uncles, distant relatives, several of her cousins, three people she had never seen before... wait, what? She blinked once, and squinted her eyes slightly, trying to make out their faces. Far in the back were seated two women in red, and one in a pale green. _'Who are you?'_ She made a mental note to ask her father about the three at the reception.

The priest's voice snapped her attention back to him, just as he was finishing his speech. "I now pronounce you animal and wife, you may kiss the bride." Weiss could feel Blake's nails dig into her hands as the other young woman inhaled sharply and stiffened.

Blake, luckily, took the time to think about what would happen if she reached for her boot knife and stabbed the man. It was only natural for everyone at the wedding to be armed to the teeth; it wasn't that often that humans married Faunus, especially in the way the girls' marriage had been decided. Hell, a couple of the hicks on her side had more guns on them than teeth in their mouths. She was more than aware that if she made even the slightest move, her brothers in the White Fang would certainly rise and open fire on the Schnee side of the church. An action that would probably lead to them doing the same thing to her side of the church. All it would take for a full-blown massacre to take place in the House of God was a simple move.

In the audience, 500 hands stroked 500 weapons in anticipation. Cinder's eyes started to glow as the twins affixed their blades to their bodies. Blake looked at her wife, only to see that Weiss' hand was already gripping her sword, ready to kill. Ruby and Winter were standing stock-still, staring at the Faunus. It then occurred to the black-haired girl that no one in the audience had done anything yet, which of course meant that they were all waiting for her next move.

She turned to the priest, "Do you mind repeating that, father? I don't think I quite heard you right the first time." She tried to remain calm, but her tone was by no means kind or gentle. It did manage to get her point across however.

"Yes, of course, ma'am," the man cleared his throat, "I now pronounce you," he glanced up. Blake was staring him down, "umm... wife and wife? You may kiss the bride." Blake turned to Weiss and gave her best attempt at a loving kiss. When they parted, Weiss was the first to speak.

"Hopefully this will work out," Blake blinked, '_When did Weiss come to accept her fate?_'

* * *

The reception, after that whole fiasco, was uneasy at best. Weiss looked at her new wife; she had to admit that Blake did look beautiful. "Blake, I want you to kiss me when we go in there."

The two were standing outside the gates of the Schnee Estate, holding hands, prepared for the moment the drum major sounded off the band for their arrival. Marching band courtesy of the Atlesian Marine Corps, naturally. The brunette looked at her wife, "Why would you want me to do that?"

"They will expect us to. We should at least give them a show." Weiss said, squeezing Blake's hand reassuringly before giving the bellabooty a firm a slap.

Before Blake could protest, there was a roll off. The drum major turned to the audience and spoke, "Rise for the entrance of the honorable Weiss and Blake Schnee." The two walked in as the band played _Supporting the World_, the Atlesian national anthem. The two were greeted with applause from all parts of the room when Blake leaned Weiss back and kissed her passionately, her tongue sliding between Weiss's soft lips with ease.

The two moved to the dance floor for their first dance as Blake looked into Weiss's eyes, "May I have this dance, my love?"

Blake cringed as she said that line, but she knew she had to. It was a tradition she simply could not get away with ignoring. The Brunette took Weiss' right hand and placed her own right hand on her wife's back. The orchestra played a Tchaikovsky waltz for their first dance, and Blake begrudgingly thanked Orich for forcing those dance lessons upon her.

"You're quite the dancer," Weiss commented quietly as Blake twirled her around.

"You can thank your father for that. He made me take those dance lessons with Winter the entire time I was here…" muttered the Faunus, casting her eyes downward, afraid that she wasn't taking the right steps for her dance.

Weiss sighed silently, "Stop looking down. You're supposed to only have eyes for your partner."

Blake looked into her wife's eyes, "I'm just making sure I'm doing this right," she said. "You wouldn't want me to embarrass you, would you?"

"You're doing fine," came the heiress' voice after a long moment. Blake nodded and the couple continued their dance in silence as the audience looked on.

Blake listened intently to the music as she danced, waiting for the final climax of their dance. When the moment came, Blake did exactly as she was supposed to, diving the girl down and planting her mouth into Weiss's for a kiss. She felt the girl growing stiff in her arms, almost as if she wasn't expecting it. A moment later, however, Weiss returned the kiss, but Blake couldn't help but think how much better it felt during her practise sessions with Winter. The spark she felt wasn't present in the arms of this much stiffer woman, the beauty and finesse of the moment lost on her. Just like every other forced kiss she had shared with Weiss throughout the day.

Once the waltz was over, the couple walked off the floor, which was now open for other partners, and began to mingle with their guests.

After a few hours of socializing, the people prepared for the large banquet, which was conducted in the standard style for an event of this size. Eventually, it came time to cut the cake.

Weiss leaned close to Blake who was sitting on her left, conversing with Ruby about something the young heiress probably didn't care about, "It's almost time to cut the cake," she said as the music changed and all discussions died down, eyes turning towards the table that held the six-layer wedding cake. "You think you two can finish your conversation later?" Blake nodded, excusing herself, and smiled as she heard Ruby telling her to save her a nice big piece.

"You know what you're doing, right?" came Weiss's voice as the couple stood behind the table. Blake simply glared at her. "I'll take that as a yes." The shorter girl grabbed the knife, and felt the Faunus's hand over hers. "If you even think of smearing cake all over my face, I will not hesitate to kill you with this," she muttered, receiving yet another glare from the brunette, that let her know that smearing cake was not something she was intending to do. "Good."

Blake squinted at the sudden flash that came from a camera near them as she and Weiss prepared to make the first cut. She was ready to get this over with when something on her left caught her eye, making her ears twitch in uneasiness. She eyed Weiss quickly to make sure she had no idea what was going on, and, finding out that the other girl was too preoccupied smiling for the photographer and making sure her good profile could be seen on all the photos, she sighed and pushed her hand down, the knife cutting the chocolaty dessert with ease.

As more pictures of the presumably happy couple were taken, Weiss turned to face Blake, a fork with a piece of the cake in hand. "What are you doing?" came the Faunus's quiet question as she saw the fork approaching her mouth.

Weiss rolled her eyes, "I'm supposed to feed you the first piece of the cake. The bride feeds the groom first. What? It's tradition." Blake's cat ears twitched slightly when she was referred to as "the groom", but made no comment on it as the cake-laden fork slid into her mouth. "Now you," said the shorter girl before adding hastily: "Make sure it's a small piece. And don't take it anywhere near the rest of my face." The brunette faked a smile as she fed Weiss a small piece of the cake, some of the people watching them awing in response. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Blake rolled her eyes in response.

After it was over, and the photographers were content with the amount of pictures they had of the couple, Blake gave Mr. Schnee a piece of the cake, receiving an incomprehensible growl as a response, while Weiss offered the Belladonnas one piece each, smiling politely as the Faunus couple congratulated her.

Blake made her way back to the table where Ruby was sitting, and handed her a pink rose made of fondant.

"Oooh thank you! I've been eyeing those things all day!" exclaimed the girl with a wide smile, bringing the flower closer to her face to smell it.

The Faunus chuckled, "You do know it's not real, right?"

"Sugar smells so nice…" came Ruby's response as she inhaled deeply and sighed in content.

"Hey, Ruby?" Blake hesitated for a moment, recalling the scene she had witnessed a few minutes ago. "Why are those people taking body shots off your sister?" she whispered the questions so only the girl next to her would hear.

Ruby lifted her eyes from the edible rose in her hands, turned her head to where Blake was looking, and sighed, '_Well, that didn't take very long.' _"Yang has a way with people…" she mumbled before biting into the sugary sculpture.

After everyone had been served the cake, and the dance floor was once again populated, Blake walked away to talk with her parents, Weiss moved to search the room for her father. The strange women she had seen earlier were certainly not from the in-law's side of the family, and the man knew absolutely everyone on his side on the guest list.

As her eyes scanned the grounds one more time, she saw them again. They were standing next to the cake of all things. The least inconspicuous location possible for someone planning any nefarious act. Taking a deep breath, Weiss decided that she didn't need her father to tell her who these people were, and she started walking towards them, intending to introduce herself.

Meanwhile, Ruby was looking around for the bride, she needed to talk to Weiss about the possibility of any team get-togethers over the summer. She had figured that if Weiss was going to be anywhere, she would most probably be by the cake, examining her figurine on top of it for any unflattering features. She neared the dessert, looking around for the older girl, only to stop when she saw someone else standing there. The woman she instead met at the cake table was not Weiss, but rather, someone entirely different. She reminded Ruby quite a bit of Winter, come to think of it. '_I wonder who she is...'_

"Hey, you!" she called out. "In the red!"

The woman turned to her, "I have a name, you know?" she said in an indifferent voice, and Ruby paused. "Cinder, Cinder Fall."

Cinder eyed the young girl before her from head to toe, "Aren't you that girl that I helped into Beacon Academy? The one at the dust shop robbery?"

Ruby's jaw fell ever so slightly, and she blinked. This Cinder woman, whoever she was, made it sound like she had done her a favor; although, there was a slight problem with the statement.

"That Torchwick guy did that," replied Ruby matter-of-factly.

Cinder smiled, placing her hand on Ruby's chin, stroking it gently, "I guess that's one way to see that."

It was that moment that Weiss arrived, ready to start asking questions. She was obviously in no mood to have these women give long introductions, so she made her query rather brief.

"Excuse me ladies," she started after clearing her throat quietly, "I was just wondering who you are and how you're related to me." The question had sounded better in her head, but there was nothing she could do about it now. Not that she was willing to try anyway.

Ruby opened her mouth to speak to Weiss. She was cut off, however, by that Cinder lady.

"I am Cinder Fall," said the woman, and added, "your father's older sister."

Weiss' eyes widened, and her entire world halted as she tried to comprehend that line. She blinked once... twice... her jaw moving up and down, but no voice coming out. After a third blink, and a deep breath, she was able to collect herself and her thoughts, and speak.

"You… You're what?"

"I am your father's older sister, Cinder Fall." The woman said again '_Did my brother raise an idiot?_'

Weiss looked the woman over another time, suddenly surprised that she didn't notice her resemblance to Winter before. "I… I don't… Why have I never heard of you before?"

Cinder was about to speak when something she intended on avoiding caught her eye. Orich approached the women, a look of near fury on his face, "How did you get in here, Cinder?"

Winter, who was following her father, walked closer with a look of recognition and hope. The excitement fell from her face when Orich spoke, however. She instead remained quiet, standing beside the man with a well-practiced expression of proper indifference.

Cinder flipped her hair and rolled her eyes into her brother's hard gaze with ease, it actually unsettled the man a bit that she could do such a thing. "Oh, this adorable little Faunus girl invited me," a smile grew on her face as she said that, only serving to unsettle her brother even more.

Orich tried to maintain his composure; he needed to fix this problem before it got out of hand, "Get out of my house, Cinder! You aren't wanted here." Her eyes narrowed, a soft glow emanating from deep within them.

Orich could feel a searing finger nearing his face, "I have every right to be here, Orich. This is as important to me as it is to you. Weiss is my family as well."

She was about to touch him when he backed away in fear, "I... I guess I can make an exception for this one day. Just… behave yourself."

Cinder smirked as she let her hand fall back down, "I'm sure you can. I promise I won't be too… disruptive." She blinked before turning her attention to Winter, a much more inquisitive expression on her face, "So, when did I get a second niece?"

Winter's eyes widened when Cinder said this. Not from awe, but from crushing disappointment, "Wait, you're not my mother?"

Orich's head snapped to his younger daughter and he would have slapped her if they weren't in public. "Winter! What is the matter with you?" The young girl instinctively moved to dodge the hand that never came.

Ruby and Weiss could only look on in silent confusion at the events transpiring before them.

"N-No." Cinder wasn't quite expecting that from the younger Schnee, but quickly took note of it, "I-I'm not your mother at all." She then proceeded to speak freely before she could even catch herself, "Bedding my brother would be an atrocity even I couldn't commit." The twins eyed each other nervously.

Cinder bent down and caressed the girl's cheek, everything about the way she acted made her seem unwanted, separate from the rest of the family. Of course, this was as good an opportunity as any to play with her brother's household life, "You know, Winter, you have your great-grandmother's hair..." Her warm hand gently ran its way over the girl's sharp jawline, "your grandfather's eyes..." Cinder found the contact surprisingly soothing, though she didn't know why, "and my mother's face. I see my whole family in you…" she hesitated for a moment, testing the waters, "my favorite niece." Weiss barely managed to stifle her protests.

At this point, Winter was beginning to soften her expression again, this alluring woman had a way of making her feel wanted, like part of a family, it was almost intoxicating to her. Cinder gave the girl a soft smile in return and Winter almost completely caved under her aunt's manipulative words.

Orich prevented Winter from falling into Cinder's trap, though, pushing the woman's hand away from his daughter and rapidly changing the subject. "So, what's with the entourage?" he asked, indicating the twins standing behind her. He didn't really care, he just needed his sister to stop what she was doing.

Cinder's face grew harsher as her eyes coldly rested upon his, "Orich, have you already forgotten?"

His eyes widened in realization as he looked from the girls and to his sister again, before his expression hardened, "I don't want to ever see them on my property, either." At that, he turned to leave. "Come on Winter. I want you staying far from that woman, you understand?"

Winter looked back at Cinder, longing in her eyes, the disappointment heavy in her voice, "Yes, father."

Yang approached the group, a smile on her face, "What's the party over here..." the blonde stopped when she noticed how tense everyone seemed to be, "Ummm… guys? Ease up, this is a wedding."

The twin in red took a short breath, "Melanie, is that..."

Her sister cut her off, "I think so, Miltia."

Weiss was still stunned silent. Ruby looked between the girls in confusion. She knew Yang had an active life outside of school, but she didn't think it was that active. Cinder turned her head toward the girl in green, "Melanie," then to the girl in red, "Miltia? You know this girl?"

Melanie responded first, "She's a… mutual acquaintance..." Yang was surprised when Melanie finished off with a wink her way. Something wasn't right.

Miltia then picked up explaining their acquaintance to Cinder, "We met her at work"

Yang backed away from the two girls, she wasn't really interested in a fight on this day, "Hey sis, you... probably want to avoid associating with these two."

Miltia approached the blonde, taking Yang's face in her hand, "Relax, honey..." came the girl's voice.

"We're off the clock now," Melanie spoke as she stepped forward to pass her fingers through Yang's golden hair. The temptress dwelled there for a moment, taking in the young woman before her. Her golden hair reminded her of the sun, and her eyes were an unusual shade of lavender. The lithe figure standing there was undeniably beautiful. Melanie wanted her; she was going to get what she wanted. She always did.

The blonde took another step back from the predatory girls as Ruby leaned over to whisper into her ear, "Yang, this is the woman from that dust shop robbery!" indicating Cinder, "And she's Weiss's aunt too."

Weiss finally managed to regain her fine motor functions, "Can someone explain what is going on? Yang? Ruby? How do you know these people?"

Cinder chuckled as she led the twins away from the scene, "Your sister is right, little Red. You should probably keep clear of us."

* * *

Tereus Schnee looked at the great campus of Beacon academy. He had come to Beacon with his son to visit the girl for her eighteenth birthday, but also because he had nothing else to do. Orich, who had never really liked his sister, certainly not enough to surprise her for her birthday, had only come because his father had demanded his presence. They had already checked with the boarding manager and entered the dorm room for her team; the door to which was strangely open, revealing Cinder on the inside. She was laying on her bed, reading a book.

As he approached her, the man cast his judgmental gaze over his teenage daughter, only to see a small bulge in her stomach. His jaw hardened immediately and his hands formed tight fists, but he tried to conceal his fury long enough to at least get a question out, "So, tell me. What's the father's name?" Her head whipped to the source of the voice, accidentally letting forth a soft gasp.

Cinder eyed the man, the look on his face did not match with the light tone of his voice. "...How did you know?" she asked cautiously.

He chuckled softly, "I'm a businessman, Cinder, I notice things. Also, you've gotten fatter."

Cinder immediately shot up and protested to the comment, "That was uncalled for!"

His tone became darker with such rapidity that the very switch caused the girl incredible unease, "Cinder, I come to see you on your birthday, and what do I get in return? I find that you have betrayed your innocence, and by extension, my trust in you. You did the one thing I told you not to. You think my comment was uncalled for? Your immature actions bring shame to our family, Cinder. You are the one who has done something uncalled for!"

Orich walked up to Cinder, examining her slightly heavier figure. As he looked at the clearly pregnant girl, something came to mind he had never considered before. The perfect opportunity for a better life, the life he had always wanted. He rested his eyes on his sister's stomach and snickered, "A skank like that isn't deserving of the Schnee name, father."

The older man considered his son's statement, nodding after a moment, "A good point." Her heart stopped, "We can't afford to have her tainting our prestigious family." He looked at his daughter, businesslike hardness apparent on every part of his face, "Cinder, do you still remember your mother's maiden name?"

The girl's breath shortened as she began to realize the weight of her situation, "Please father, don't do this! Orich, stop with your jokes! I beg you, please! I-I didn't mean to..."

The boy chuckled as he ran his hand over her warm cheek, grinning wickedly, "Oh, Cinder. If only there was someone who loved you…" Her fiery eyes widened as his words hit her, the pain of betrayal searing within her chest.

Tereus looked around the room, thinking of how much it cost to get his waste of a daughter into this prestigious academy, and how much money he could save, "One other thing, Cinder: I don't really need to pay for a Fall to get any form of education; now do I?"

The girl's jaw dropped. He didn't say that, he couldn't say that. It wasn't fair to her. It wasn't fair to her team, "No, Father! You can't do this!" She screamed as he turned to the exit.

He smirked softly, tousling Orich's hair, as he made his way to the door, "Good thinking, son." The man raised his voice slightly to ensure Cinder heard him, "Orich, for your great sense of honor and respect for the Schnee name, I declare you heir to the Schnee Estate. I expect you to convey yourself with the grace and _dignity_ of such an entitled individual." The stress on the word 'dignity' only served to worsen the pain Cinder felt growing within her.

The boy looked up at Tereus, "Thank you, father," he said, also trying to make sure Cinder could clearly hear him, "I will try my utmost to bring our great name pride. Hopefully, actions performed by _former _members of our family won't leave a permanent stain on our name." The two walked out of the room side by side.

Cinder Schnee had never once cried in her life, but Cinder Fall started hers doing just that.

**TSO A/N:** **So guys, this time around, there wasn't really any really big thing deleted that we can show you, nor were the parts substantial enough to warrant their own story, seeing as they mainly consisted of party jokes about Yang and the twins. Worry not, though, there is one thing that I've been saving for you guys: Winter's two original lines. These old gems are a very clear demonstration of how we originally wanted the girl to be.**

"_**I admire your sense of tradition, Weiss. I don't think I could possibly stand sleeping with such inhuman filth, no matter how much you payed me."**_

_**[Blake says something in response]**_

"_**I'm not discriminatory, I simply prefer for my lovers to have entirely human parts."**_

**I can't even imagine how this story would have played out if Winter took after her father. **

—**TSO**

**Also, shout out to TSO for coming up with the name for Cinder and Orich's father. Go look Tereus up, guys. His story is... interesting.**

**Thanks for reading, please review! :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**The views and opinions expressed by TSO are entirely her own and in no way reflect the opinions of the writing team as a whole.**

_**TSO A/N:** _**_3-23-15_: Oh man, if you guys could see the dirty pinups we use when we write… I expect this chapter to take a long time only because of the fact that it is a Cinder chapter. **

**Dark Shaquille, let me start simply by saying that every part, every line, every interaction between Cinder and the rest of the characters is either written or closely overseen by me. If you have a problem with the Cinder parts, I am the person you should be complaining to, not Ζωή. I am the one who made Cinder a Schnee, and I am the one that pitched a story to Ζωή about Cinder being a Schnee last June. The real reason why Cinder was so hard to write is because we had just gotten finished writing the dance lessons, so both of us were in the wrong mindset for writing Cinder. As for the "weird scene", it would have been much more cohesive in a more visual medium where we could easily show every character reacting to the situation around them. As it stands, writing eight characters doing something with considerable detail every time someone says a line leaves the dialogue so spread out and confusing that there is no way it could be written with any form of narrative flow.**

**We managed to yet again shoutout to fatmanfalling (at least three times in one scene). We don't even try, it just keeps happening.**

**—TSO**

**...**

**Okay, so this chapter was a lot more fun to write than I originally thought it was going to be. Turns out all we need is to actually know what we want to write. And also, note to self, do not read the chapters in sections, because that makes it seem much worse than it actually is... I have nothing to say about the dirty pinups we use other than dayam! :P And now on to the reviews! (We got 3 reviews this time, which was a nice change. Thanks, you guys!)**

**~DarkShaquille: I don't really have anything to say. I think TSO covered everything, and I agree with what she said :)  
****~Xcellll: We've been meaning to mention that actually. Yes, while writing the previous chapter (6), we decided that the whole Ladybug thing wasn't really needed. Especially since we only added it because we both shipped it at the time this story was born. So we decided to have Winter take Ruby's place, and, for obvious reasons, having Ruby dating Blake and Blake being married to Weiss and also fool around with Winter is something that is simply not going to work. And we're not too willing to try and make it work either. Anyways, long story short, no Ladybug! Also, thank you for the fav and the follow! If you enjoy this chapter, I hope to see you over to our side story, Chauffeur Service :D  
****~Thedoctor24601: Well would you look who decided to drop by! Glad you enjoyed the previous chapter(s), Rubes! Poor everyone but Blake 'cause that girl is having herself some serious fun! Well, if you ignore the fact that she had to get married to Weiss without even being asked. Eeh, technicalities. She's still having fun :P **

**7.**

The morning light of the sun shone through the curtain upon the sleeping form beneath the bedsheets, most rudely interrupting her enjoyable relief from the pain of the day. Her fiery eyes opened, illuminated by the brilliant, and quite honestly annoying light.

Cinder swept her gaze over her sleeping teammates, knowing that this month would be their last as a whole team. She didn't want to think about how they would react or what would happen to her when her father's funding ran out, she didn't even know what to tell them or how to start the discussion. At the moment she still had fifteen thousand lien, but she was given that to pay for her next semester of schooling. She could try to use it to make a new life for herself, but that was an uncertain future for her. The rent in the area was probably cheaper than her education, though, so she would probably be able to last longer off of that than she would at school.

Cinder lay in bed, watching her team members sleep, until Smaragda awoke. The Schnee readied herself for the other girl to start yelling at them all to get up, and was a little surprised when her teammate's loud voice never reached her ears. Smaragda woke Glynda first, and then Obrey, whispering sensual nothings into their ears before awakening them. When she finally moved to wake Cinder, the girl pretended to be asleep if only to hear what the girl would whisper to her. "Firecrotch, baby, it's time for the sweet sensual arousal of your morning. If you don't get up, you'll miss out on the vigorous escapades of the day ahead, honey."

The former Schnee opened her eyes and looked deeply into her teammate's lavender orbs, "Do you do that every time you wake us up?" The other girl blushed but didn't respond.

Once everyone was dressed, the team made their way to the city. It was a weekend, and they usually avoided a school meal whenever they could.

The team went to The Splendid Table, settling for a round booth in the back of the restaurant, and sat in team order, clockwise, like the always did for some reason.

A perky waitress dressed in a button-up argyle shirt and tight black pants walked up to them, "Welcome to The Splendid Table. I assume your mornings have all been… _splendid_," Cinder sighed, a small groan escaping her lips, "my name is Sugar. Can I get you ladies started with any drinks this morning?"

Glynda ordered her drink first, "I would like puppy tears, please." The rest of the team looked at their leader, a bit shocked that she would choose something so strong for the morning.

The waitress blinked, "Ma'am, it's a bit early for that, don't you think?"

Glynda looked at the woman, a soft expression on her face, "It's never too early for puppy tears, love."

The woman looked Glynda over, sighing, "Okay… I'm going to need an ID for that…"

Glynda gasped, "Carded again? Of course… Curse my good genes," Obrey giggled as Glynda drew forth her scroll and let the woman see her age. _Olivia Broadchester, born October 13, 1967. Age: 25._

The woman sighed and took the drink order, before moving on to Smaragda, "And what would you like to drink?"

The girl looked at Sugar for a second '_Well, I guess Glynda set the standard for this meal,_' "Well, Sugar," she smiled, "I would like Easy Street Wheat." She held out her scroll when prompted, _Gowen Getter, born April 7, 1970. Age: 22_. The waitress wrote it down before looking to Cinder.

The girl reached for her scroll before remembering she was still pregnant, "May I have an iced tea?" The Waitress nodded, '_At least one of them is responsible,'_ taking her order before turning to Obrey.

"I'll have a Fat Tire… and puppy tears… and a crown royal," she said, a smile on her face. '_Let's see Glynda top that._' Sugar just went with it, not even asking for ID. Even Glynda gaped at their teammate.

"Damn, girl? Are planning on us carrying you around for the rest of the day?" The redhead averted her eyes from Smaragda's judgemental gaze rather than answer her question.

When the woman left, Cinder looked to the rest of team GΣCO, "Ladies, there is something you need to know."

The Smaragda looked at her, "You aren't pregnant again, are you?"

Cinder blinked, "How does that even work?"

The olive-skinned girl was a tad confused by that question. "Well, my last litter had two sires, so… It just does?"

Cinder giggled '_This girl has clearly spent her life with Faunus.'_ "That's because you're a cat. That doesn't happen to humans," she explained as the waitress set down their drinks, Obrey immediately pouring her shots into her beer. Cinder continued, "How are the kittens, by the way?"

The young woman sighed, looking down, "They're with my parents, back in Mistral. I haven't seen them in a while, though." She took a sip of her beer, looking down, "I was hoping I could spend some time with them this summer, but I don't think I can afford the trip home. Bobby is doing fine, last I checked. Bla—"

The blonde cut off the Faunus, "Cinder, what is it you wanted to talk about? I can tell you're stalling, so spill." Smaragda gave her partner a hurt look as Glynda slammed back the shot of puppy tears before looking back to Cinder, tapping the table for another drink. After a moment's hesitation, she gently tugged on the waitress's skirt. "Actually, can I just have the bottle? Thanks." Obrey tried to hide her disappointment at this, taking a sip as a cover.

Cinder swallowed, looking at her team leader, she had to tell them at some time. She took a long sip of her tea first, though. "The problem is that my father has discovered my incredulity and has cut my education funding." Her eyes fell, "Unless I can find another source of money, this will be my last month at Beacon. When the semester is over, I will be gone forever."

There was a long silence as her team stared at her, broken only by the woman returning with Glynda's drink.

The blonde looked to the waitress, "... ummmm… Can you make that two bottles? I think I might need it." The woman looked at the faces of the tense girls at the table, rolled her eyes, and went back to the liquor cabinet without asking any questions.

Glynda poured another shot and slammed that one too, "What are you talking about, Cinder?"

The pregnant woman hung her head, "My father… When I first came here, he told me that the one rule I had to abide by was to maintain my... purity. He didn't want 'tainted goods' for when he arranged my marriage."

Obrey scoffed, taking a sip of her beer, "Arranged your marriage? What century is he from?"

Cinder looked at the pale redhead, "My father is the owner of a multi-billion lien company in Atlas. An upper-class Atlesian would be an idiot to _not _arrange marriages for the benefit of his company."

Smaragda looked at Cinder, "Wait, what is an upper-class Atlesian's daughter doing at Beacon anyway? Wouldn't he want you behind some desk somewhere? You know, where you would be able to learn how to manage an estate and have an influence on the future and whatnot?"

The brunette looked at the other girl, "My father wanted me to have this education. I think he did it so that I would die and he could give the company to Orich… It's the simplest way that leaves him with an untouched criminal record."

Glynda nodded, taking a swig from the bottle, "It's probably true… I mean, huntsmen either die or end up teaching at the academy; and I don't think any of us would ever want to be teachers." There was a hint of repulsion in her voice as she said that.

Obrey took a sip of her drink, "You least of all, Glynda. Like, can you even imagine that? Glynda Goodwitch, queen of negligence, a teacher at Beacon?" They all had a good laugh at that notion.

Cinder looked at her leader, "She'd probably lose all her students on their first field trip." The girls laughed again as the brunette took another sip of her tea.

Once that was over, Obrey ran her pink eyes over the rest of her team, sighing. "Well, guys, we have one month left together. Does anyone know what we should do with Firecrotch for that time?" Cinder smirked at the pet name. Of all her memories of Beacon, that week would certainly be her favorite.

The green-haired girl looked at Cinder, putting on her sunglasses and finishing her beer, "Well, I guess we'll have to make the most of our remaining time together," she said.

Obrey took the sunglasses off her ambitious friend, "Hold on there. I know you're itching at the bit to get going, but we haven't even had breakfast yet." Smaragda groaned in disappointment, snatching her sunglasses back.

* * *

Glynda looked at her partner as team GΣCO "walked" out of the diner, "Okay, how does your plan for Cinder's last month with us start?"

The olive girl looked around for a moment, spying some clothing stores in the distance, "I know just the place to begin…"

The girls all looked in the direction Smaragda was looking, all to see the Foxy Lady Gentlemen's Club, "NO, we can't do that! They'll recognise us! Especially Cinder and Glynda!"

"Yeah, I don't think anyone will forget _that _show any time soon," Glynda giggled, stumbling slightly.

The Faunus looked at them in confusion for a moment, "What? Oh, no, not there. The store beside it!"

Cinder was the first to speak. "Ohh, that one…"

Obrey giggled after a realizing which edifice her friend was refering to, "Hey, Glynda, isn't that the place where you tried on that cute blouse, and it ripped in half 'cuz your bust was too heavy for it?"

Glynda looked at Cinder's partner, "_No_, Obrey, Olivia Broadchester did that!" she said in an mildly offended tone.

The other girls giggled at Glynda's lame attempt at dodging the blame, "Okay, let's just try some clothes on. Maybe we can buy some stuff for Cinder t—"

The Fall immediately cut the redhead off, "I am not some charity case!"

Smaragda looked at the brunette, "Think of them as going away presents. You didn't think we'd let you leave empty-handed, right?"

Cinder rolled her eyes, with a smirk on her face, "We all know you just want to see me in my underwear."

The Faunus scoffed, rolling her lavender eyes, "Well, can you blame me?"

The other girls all replied in unison, laughing, "Yes."

Cinder looked at her friend, "Smaragda, you can't be subtle with this, we know you too well."

The four made their way to the store with smiles on their somewhat flushed faces, Glynda leading the way.

"Ladies," the store owner greeted them, smiling widely.

"Creeper at ten o'clock," the redhead whispered.

Smaragda laughed, "Shut up, Obrey. Not every man you see wants to touch your boobs. God…"

"Don't say I didn't warn you," the girl sung slightly.

Glynda chuckled, "Let's not ruin the moment with your paranoia, Obby."

The olive girl looked to her team, "Okay ladies, let's get some new clothes on."

The Faunus spied some mint green blouses in the window and made a beeline for them, ignoring the employees asking her if she wanted help finding anything. Obrey looked around for a second before heading for the dresses, dragging her partner with her, despite the latter's mild protests. The blonde chose to follow the two girls.

The three dispersed around a dress rack the moment they got there.

Cinder was looking at a long white gown when she heard an excited gasp coming from her partner, "Why don't you try on... this one!" exclaimed Obrey, holding an ornately beaded tight-fitting green dress in front of her.

The brunette looked at the dress for a moment, she had to admit it looked beautiful, but she wouldn't be caught dead wearing that skimpy thing. The neck was cut way too low and the skirt was too short for her to even consider it, "Green is not my color. And you know I won't be able to fit in it in a couple of months."

Smaragda, who was now standing nearby with a blouse in hand, had witnessed the exchange, and walked closer to her friends. "Hmm… You're right," she grabbed the dress from Obrey's hands. "Plus, green is totally my color so... Thanks!" she heard her teammates chuckling as she moved towards the fitting rooms.

"I'm just gonna look over there," said Obrey pointing to the opposite end of the store, where the jewelry was. Cinder nodded in response, moving to stand nearer her leader.

"So... Have you thought of what you're going to do when the month is over?" Glynda asked her teammate when they were left alone.

Cinder sighed, "No, not really. I'll have to find a job, that's for sure. And somewhere to live."

"He kicked you out of the house?" the taller girl gasped.

"That's the first thing he did, actually. I'm pretty sure he was just waiting for me to screw up so he could disown me or something."

Glynda's partner returned, looking at Cinder, "So? What do you think?" She twirled around, and her two teammates looked at her with wide eyes, looking as if they were about to have a heart attack.

"You're bloody naked!" Glynda yelled.

The girl looked down at the dress, her chest seemed covered… then she noticed herself in the mirror. The girl gasped, and gave the skirt a sharp tug, trying to at least get to a state where she wasn't flashing everyone who could see her. She gave up when her breasts popped out the top of the dress and ran back into the dressing room. Obrey followed her teammate back, "Mary, that thing looks like it's painted on you... Do you think you'll need help getting it off?"

Cinder sighed. "And that is why you should always wear underwear…"

"She's against them," came Obrey's voice from behind the stall door.

Glynda laughed, "Nobody is complaining… except Cinder."

The Faunus yelled between breaths, "Cinder's always complaining... It doesn't count!" A small yelp was heard as the dress was finally tugged off.

Glynda looked at Cinder, "Okay, what kind of job do you think you can get?"

The brunette sighed, she didn't really know, "I've considered working at a bakery down on the west side…"

Glynda shook her head, "No… A full time job's not really up your alley. Not with the baby coming and all... Have you tried stripping?"

The girl glared at her team leader, "Like that is up my alley?" She turned back to looking through the dresses after a long silence, "Besides, we can't anymore, remember... Jiggly Juggz?"

Unlike Cinder, Glynda could only cringe at the pet name, "Right… Pity. You do have the experience for it, too." She held up a pink sundress for Cinder to see, "What do you think of this one?"

The Atlesian rolled her eyes, "It's not really your style. Like, when was the last time you wore a sundress? And I like how you always seem to forget that we _all _have the same experience."

The blonde stopped looking at dresses and let her head hang slightly with a sigh, "Don't remind me."

Cinder scoffed, "You were the one who chose the mission…"

The blonde looked at her friend, innocence on her face, "I thought we were driving important people around!"

A faint chuckle came from the other girl's lips, "That's a chauffeur, genius."

"How was I supposed to know that?!"

Now the brunette was laughing, "Because it was obvious? Look, at least we caught the drug lords in the end, and we have one hell of a story for our first mission."

Glynda looked up at the ceiling, "I told you not to remind me…" Her head turned sharply to face the Brunette, "Also, Smaragda was completely useless for nearly all of the next semester and the headmaster got fired for sending minors who were also conviently his students to work at the strip club he was known for frequenting."

The girl shrugged, "Eh, he was kinda creepy. I like this Ironwood guy a lot more." Glynda nodded and the two resumed looking at dresses in silence.

Suddenly, Smaragda threw the dressing room door open, wearing the green blouse and black pants, "Jade Thunder is in da house, biatchez!"

Glynda blinked, the girl must have been in the dressing room for at least fifteen minutes, "Did you get lost back there?"

Cinder was relieved her teammate was at least wearing clothes,"Why are you wearing Obby's pants?"

The olive girl looked down, "Oh, uhhhhh well, I wanted to try them on. What do you guys think?"

Cinder looked at the Faunus, "They look better on Obrey. You don't have the right butt for them."

Glyda eyed the girl's rear, '_She does seem to overfill them...' _and nodded in agreement. The blonde looked back at the front of her partner and giggled a bit, "Besides, your aversion to underwear has also left the pants brutally pulled into your kitty parts."

"But… But…"

"No butt, yes cameltoe," Glynda pointed to the dressing room, "go put them back on Obrey."

Smaragda looked down again, "What about the blouse?"

The blonde considered it for a moment, "Well… It does look good with the pants…" the Faunus smiled, "but the pants don't look good on you."

"Ugh, you prudes." The girl turned her head, "Obrey, what did you think?"

A voice came from the dressing room, "I think they're right. Now give me back my pants!"

Smaragda began to unbutton her shirt as she walked back into the dressing room, showing her teammates a fair amount of skin in the process. Obrey, of course, got another full view of the Faunus.

Cinder sighed, gently rubbing her belly, "Is there anything I can actually try on that looks good?"

Glynda held something up, "It doesn't look good, but you can try it on."

Cinder looked at the nightgown and pushed it away. "Please, don't make me stoop to that level, Glyn."

After a moment, the blonde handed the Atlesian another dress, "How about this." The dress was royal purple in color, and a little longer than what Cinder was used to. A bit looser as well. The brunette eyed the oversize dress skeptically. "It's because you're-" Glynda started, but didn't manage to finish.

"I know why, Glynda," Cinder interrupted, taking the dress to look at it better. "The color is nice…" she muttered. "I'm not too thrilled about the sleeves though. That's a weird length…" Her hand ran over the neckline, "I don't know, Glyn. It's so… _not _me."

The blonde sighed and rolled her eyes, "Just go try it on, and if you really don't like it, we'll find something else. There are more stores around here; we can go to a matern-"

"_Don't_ you say it! I'm trying it on," the pregnant girl made her way hurriedly to the changing rooms.

Cinder stood in the changing room looking at the baggy article of clothing. She knew at some point she was going to have to admit she looked like a camel, but this really wasn't the time for it.

A voice drifted in from outside the door, "Do you need any help with that, Firecrotch?"

The former Schnee rested her head against the wall, '_Of course'_. "Not from you, Mary. Anyone but you." A smirk came to her face, "I don't need to sire your next litter."

The Faunus tilted her head in confusion. She was certain the brunette was a girl; but at the same time, maybe there was something she didn't know about humans, "Can you even do that?"

Cinder's lack of response left her slightly worried.

It took her some time to get enough courage to walk back out to her team. The dress seemed so baggy that it made her almost feel fat. It seemed far from flattering, but Glynda would want to see her in it, so there was nothing she could do to avoid being seen in this dress by at least her leader.

"Okay…" came the brunette's voice as she walked out for her teammates to see. "How is it?"

Obrey looked at her partner, "That thing was pretty on the hanger, but on you it's gorgeous, Cindy!"

"For the hundredth time, don't call me Cindy."

Smaragda walked up the the brunette, running her hand over the cloth. "This color really suits you actually... You should stop wearing red all the time." Her fingers wandered farther up the dress, "And that neckline! See? Being pregnant can have it's perks too. Your boobs look great!"

"I'm still not sure about the sleeves," she mused, giving them a slight tug.

Obrey took her turn to feel the cloth, "Well, I, for one, think it's beautiful. And it doesn't even show that you're pregnant. Plus, that little belt under the bust is so cute."

"I think it makes you look less bovine than before… and it does make those udders seem bigger."

Cinder glared at her leader, "Thank you for your insightful contribution, Glynda."

After picking out a few more dresses, the girls moved over to the jewelry part of the store.

They went over various items, trying on the majority of them. Cinder picked up a beautiful rose onyx earring, but it's partner was malachite, so she wasn't really too keen on them.

Smaragda held up some large emerald pear cut earrings, "Glynda, don't you think these would look great dangling from my ears?"

Glynda paused, eyeing the girl's form, considering the options. "I dunno; I think they'd look better as tassels…" she mused.

The Faunus looked at her partner, "Actually, I think they match your eyes. Here, bend over so I can put them on you." She approached, the blonde giggling softly as she leaned forward so the shorter girl could place the jewelry.

A moment later, she turned to look in the mirror, "My, my, Mary. They do match my eyes."

"They're beautiful," said the other girl, who had stepped closer so Glynda could see her in the mirror too. "Add them with the rest of the stuff?"

Glynda smiled, "Add them with the rest of the stuff." Her eyes scanned the rest of the shop as Smaragda walked away, earrings in hand. Cinder and Obrey were standing over another display case, looking at what appeared to be bracelets.

"Look how pretty this one is," she heard Obrey say as she picked up a bracelet with yellow stones on it.

Cinder looked at it, "I don't know, Obby... How about this one?" She held up a ruby version of the bracelet for Obrey to see.

The blonde walked up shaking her head, "No, girl, you can't keep picking red every time you see something." She held up a gold chain anklet with different jewels, dark reddish-brown garnets, dangling down from the links, "How about this, instead?" Cinder eyed it warily, the jewels seemed a bit dark for her taste… "As a compromise," the redhead added.

Cinder relented, and Smaragda watched intently as she lifted her leg, placing it on the counter to clasp the anklet on. The Faunus stared up the other girl's skirt the whole time. The two other team members looked at the anklet, ignoring the voyeuristic girl behind them. Obrey ran her fingers over her partner's lower leg, one of exceptional class and fine breeding, "Cinder, it looks beautiful on you. Why didn't you want to try it on?"

Glynda chuckled, "Obby, everything looks good on her legs."

The Faunus had returned to the group, the earrings in a pile along with the clothes on the other side of the store, "Wow, Cinder… that anklet was made for your leg." There was a hint of lust in her voice as her tongue ran over her lips suggestively.

Cinder pulled her ankle away from the Faunus, taking her foot off the counter and lowering her leg to the ground. "Thank you, Mary."

There was an awkward moment before the four turned away from each other and shopped some more. Eventually, they felt satisfied with the amount of clothing they had amassed, and finally approached the counter to buy everything.

The man behind the counter picked up the pile of clothing and began to scan the tags, "I see you four have good taste. Let me guess," he scanned the earrings and held them up, "these are yours?" He looked at Glynda, who nodded. "They seem like something you would like, they match your eyes." The other three became more and more puzzled as the man accurately identified the owner of each article he was selling, "I haven't been doing this for years without learning a thing or two about women." Of course, the secret to the act was that he watched the patrons pick out their clothing, and simply remembered who was buying what.

The shop owner finished ringing up the four girls and looked to them, "Thats one anklet, some green earrings, one mint blouse, a maternity dress," Cinder cringed at that, "and five other dresses. Will that be all, ladies?"

Glynda nodded, "Yes, thank you."

The man nodded, glanced at the register, and looked back to the girls, "That'd be 1059£, please. Oh, and we only accept cash here."

Their leader's eyelid twitched as Smaragda whispered to her, "Woah, that's a lot of lien..."

The brunette looked at all of the things, "Ummm… I don't really need the anklet…"

"800£, then Mrs."

She reached to her purse, prepared to pay everything like she usually did. "Cinder, what are you doing?"

The woman looked at Smaragda, "Paying for the clothes, obviously."

"No, no, honey. Not this time. That dress is from us. Like a... A parting gift, remember? And we can take care of ourselves," Glynda broke eye contact at that, casting her gaze to the floor. Seeing how her earrings were half that price, the fend for yourself option wasn't sounding too hot.

Cinder glared at the Faunus, "I thought I made it clear that I don't want your pity."

"It's not pity, Cinder. It's what any friend would do for another friend. Now stop being so stubborn and just accept that you have caring friends, okay?"

"Whatever." The girl put back her clutch, secretly relieved she wasn't going to have to cover this too. "Okay, where to next?"

Smaragda felt her stomach turning a bit as she handed the man her part of the cost, "I'm kinda hungry..."

Obrey laughed, throwing the Faunus a wink, "You're always hungry, Mary."

The four began to leave the store at that point, carrying their goods with them, "_That-" _the olive-skinned girl paused, thinking, "is so true actually."

The girl looked down the street. Seeing no immediate food options, she turned to her team, "Quick snack break and then we can go to that dust shop a couple of blocks from here. I need more dust rounds for my baby."

Cinder looked at her teammate, "Stop being creepy about your weapon. It's weird."

"Shut up, Cinder. You only wish you had a weapon as good as mine."

The brunette scoffed, "Weapons are overrated."

Glynda slapped the Faunus with her crop, "Stop. Both of you. We're not having the weapon conversation again. Not as long as it's clear that mine tops yours by miles."

Obrey looked at her teammates, "Okay... So, where are we stopping for food?"

Smaragda was the first to suggest something. Something near, something fast, something cheap. "The Phở King?"

Glynda gagged slightly, "Ew, no. The food is disgusting there..."

Her partner laughed, "You only say that because you think you got food poisoning from there."

"I don't _think _I did, I actually did!"

Obrey looked to Glynda, "That or, you know, you drank too much wine again. For the thousandth time, it's alcohol, not water."

Cinder spoke up, "Can we just go to Brewed Awakening?"

Smaragda looked at the brunette, "You only want to go that place because Jasper works there during the weekends."

The former Schnee raised her hands slightly, "So what if I do? I haven't told him about me having to drop out yet. He deserves to know."

The redhead nodded, "She's right, Mary. He is partly responsible for this, after all."

Team GΣCO walked down the street for two blocks and took a right, chatting about nothing in particular. One block further, and the shop in question came into view.

The four girls stepped into the coffee shop, the Faunus immediately making her way to the counter, making her order. "Toasted white bread. Dry. Nothing on it."

The Barista, Kandi by the name tag, looked at the girl, "You want anything to go with your bread? … Other than two whole fried chickens?"

The Faunus paused. Fried chicken did sound nice, but she wasn't that hungry, "No, thank you."

Glynda was the next to order. "I'll just have a coffee. Black."

Kandi looked at the giantess, "Okay, ma'am"

Obrey took her order next, "I'll have an iced cappuccino."

Cinder walked up, "I'll just have dusted water. Burn, please. Oh, and a poppyseed muffin."

Once their food was paid for and given to them, the brunette made her way toward the counter again, "Excuse me, may I speak to Jasper?"

The girl smiled and nodded, leaning back and turning her head to the kitchen door, "Hey, Jasper, you've got another girl asking for you!"

A muffled voice emanated from the kitchen, "Is it Tiffanny? Tell her I'm not here if it is. Unless it's Candra. Then send her back." The Fall began to walk purposefully toward the source of the voice when she heard this.

The barista had a confused look on her face as she eyed the former Schnee, "No... it's a brunette. A pregnant one at that."

The sound of dishes breaking was the sign of realization, "Tell Patrick I'm on break _right now!_" There were hurried footsteps in the kitchen as Cinder ran through the door.

The young man on the other side looked up, "Hi, my love?"

Cinder glared at the man, "I see you're happy to see me, baby." she hissed

His back stiffened as he turned around, looking over the mother of his child as he did so, "I… Of course I am, honey. I've been thinking about you all the time. How have you been doing?"

"I've been cut off from my family. I have to drop out of the academy. You know, the usual," the former Schnee shrugged at this, feigning indifference, but her tone was by no means any less aggressive than before.

The man turned his head away, avoiding eye contact, "Oh. Well, that's too bad. I would have considered helping you if I could."

The brunette's hard look contradicted strongly with the now sweet tone of her voice, "You're always so thoughtful..."

He turned to the coatrack to put on his coat, "Of course. You know I love you."

Cinder sneered at him as he walked to the exit, "Jasper, I can see all the signs of our deep love every day."

The man looked back at her before closing the door, "I know you do."

The girl called just before the barrier between them completely closed, "I suppose you'll be spending your break with this Chandra girl, then?"

The click of the door handle was the only response she received. Cinder sighed, turning back to the door she came from. She worked to regain her calm composure while making her way out of the room and back into the dining area.

The girl strode to the table her team was sitting at, her grace hiding the disappointment she had in the man. Glynda turned her green eyes to the brunette, "So how'd it go?"

Cinder shrugged, setting herself into a chair around the small table. "He took it about as well as I expected him to."

The olive girl took a large and offensive bite of her dry white bread, swallowing it almost without chewing first, "I still can't believe he wants nothing to do with his own child."

The redhead sighed, shaking her head, "I can see it."

Glynda nodded, "Yeah…So, what's your plan for dealing with this?"

Cinder sighed, "Same as before. I can't let the bastard's lack of heart drag me down." Her voice seeping determination.

The blonde looked at her friend, "I meant for dealing with the lack of heart"

The girl took a sip of her dusted water, looking down at the table with a sigh, "Oh, I don't really know."

The Faunus finished her bread, stealing a sip of Glynda's coffee to down it all, receiving a slap on the wrist and a glare from the taller girl. "How many times have I told you not to drink from my coffee?"

Smaragda slapped the blonde's hand back, speaking to her team as she did so, "Okay, so, let's get to that dust store, shall we?" She started stroking her weapon, "My poor baby is hungry. If I don't get that dust, it's as good as dead. I might as well just leave it under the pillow when I get up."

Glynda turned to the girl, "You keep your weapon under your pillow?"

Mary blinked, "Of course I do," she deadpanned. "What if I need it?"

Obrey stared at her, raising an eyebrow, "In the middle of the night?"

A slight blush crept over her tanned skin, "...You never know with these things."

Cinder giggled, choking slightly on her water, "Well, yeah, you really never do know…"

Glynda finished her coffee, "Okay, team, we'll go to the dust store next."

The other two finished off their glasses and team GΣCO stood to go.

* * *

Cinder hadn't managed to sleep the night before, and neither had the rest of the team. What was supposed to be just another normal night with her friends had turned into a farewell party that not only did she not ask for, but it was also the one thing she had been trying to avoid. She knew that herself and Glynda would be calm and collected, just like she also knew that Smaragda and Obrey would be anything but; and she was right.

The brunette smiled slightly as she thought of the previous night. The gates of Beacon were now standing tall before her, while her broken team, '_GΣO,'_ she thought sadly, was a few paces behind.

"I suppose this will be the last time we meet?" she sighed.

Her partner took a step forward, and looked into her fiery eyes, "No, Cindy, don't say that. I'm sure we'll keep in touch," she smiled encouragingly.

The girl looked away, "I don't know, Obby, the world is such a large place…"

"Hey… We'll always have Beacon, dear," another voice came as Cinder felt the Faunus putting a hand on her shoulder.

Cinder smiled, softly. "I know Mary, I know"

"Cinder, if you ever need anything, just call us, okay?"

"I'll try to keep that in mind, Glyn," the girl nodded and turned to face back to the gate.

She laughed quietly when she felt Obrey grab her arm, "We'll never forget you, Cinder," the brunette's back stiffened when the redhead suddenly wrapped her arms around her former teammate.

"I wish you didn't have to leave, we need you, honey." The olive girl giggled a bit, "Nobody could work the pole like you, Firecrotch," she said with a wink, making Cinder roll her eyes in response.

Glynda, sighed, deciding this would be a good a time as any for what she planned to do, "Cinder, there is something I want you to have," she said as she took a couple of steps closer, "to remember us." The blonde got down on one knee, a small felt box in her hand.

The brunette's breath hitched slightly, "Glynda… What... I…" The box opened. Cinder sighed in relief when she saw that there wasn't a ring in it. Instead, the leader of team GΣCO withdrew the garnet anklet.

"May I have your leg?" Cinder let out a soft, but nervous, laugh as Glynda lifted the girl's right leg slightly, running gentle hands down her calve.

"Glynda, why did you get me this?" She let her leg fall back down when the jewelry was secured around her ankle. "You didn't need to."

Smaragda moved behind Glynda, "We all got you this," she hesitated for a moment, "because we love you, Cinder."

The former schnee backed up, shaking her head, "Oh, no, girls, you shouldn't h -"

Glynda "Yes, Cinder, we should have. Never say that."

The girl nodded, there was no need to defy the blonde at this point, "Well… thank you guys… but, again, I am not a charity case…"

The redhead shook her head, stepping forward, "Please stop saying that. Gifts aren't a sign of pity, honey."

Their leader looked to her former team member, "I agree with Obby on this. Now go, your future awaits. We're only stalling you from this."

Mary giggled a bit, "Go, Firecrotch. Go and… take over the world... or something."

Cinder laughed, "Are you trying to push me away?"

"Yes, you bloody wanker."

The redhead gasped, turning to her fearless leader, "_Glynda!_" she hissed.

Smaragda stepped toward the brunette. She almost caressed her friend in some way, but had to remind herself that Cinder wasn't into that. "She doesn't mean it, Cindy…" the girl sighed. "She's just… bitter about you going."

"She needs to get out of our care at some point…"

The brunette smiled slightly, "It's okay, Glynda, you're fine." The girl looked over her team one last time, "She's right, ladies, I really should get going if I don't want to spend the rest of my life here."

The redhead looked down at her feet, unwilling to let their time as a team end, "Well… I guess we have to let you go at some point…"

Glynda nodded, "I think you should leave before this goes on forever."

The former Schnee sighed turning to the gate, "I suppose I should." She took a step, her foot landing on the other side of the barrier, never to return.

Mary couldn't help but call out one last time. "Bye, Cinder!"

She responded, refusing to look back, "Goodbye, Smaragda."

* * *

Blake stood opposite Winter in the ballroom, looking at the younger girl. She knew they couldn't dance anymore, there was no reason to, and now there was nothing for her to do at the mansion. She felt so much like a wound up ball of stress, and every day that she spent with her wife only seemed to make matters worse.

"Winter…" she took a small step closer, "may I have this dance?"

Winter looked back at Blake, her partner barely visible in the moonlight of the room. "Yes, Blake, you may," she nodded, smiling.

Their arms moved to their respective places as if they had minds of their own, and the two girls stepped toward the center of the floor, assuming their proper stances upon arrival. The younger pulled out her scroll, and after short series of screen touches, a slow waltz began to emanate from the device's speakers, just loud enough for the two to hear it. They began to dance on downbeat of the third measure, just as they always did.

The pair began to gracefully sway and move with the music as they danced around the room, slowly spinning and stepping within a world their own, moving closer and closer together, nearly pressing against each other as the dance drew on. Lost within their own world, the two partners never even noticed their visitor standing above them.

Weiss stood atop the balcony, looking down upon her wife and her sister, jealousy beginning to form within her frozen heart. As she began to silently descend the stairs, the third part of the form came, and Blake did something that Weiss was not expecting. The Faunus dipped Winter down as she always did, and gave the girl a deep, passionate, long kiss. Far far longer than anything Weiss had ever received. Longer, even, than any kiss Blake had ever given Winter before. All of the older girl's stress and tension from the day melted into the intense passion of her kiss, eliciting a slight moan from the younger girl as her fingers tangled within her sister-in-law's hair. They held their kiss until the music ended, reminding them that they had to stop at some point.

Ignorant of the third presence in the room, the two parted, eyes locked, sharing each other's breath for a long moment, completely lost within their partner's gaze. Blake let herself get lost in the deep blue eyes of her forbidden partner, a smile creeping up her lips, mirroring Winter's own. After some time, the Faunus sighed, "I missed you," she whispered, finally breaking away from the moment.

As the moment came to its end, the Faunus lifted her partner back up, only to see her wife standing above her on the stairs, mouth agape. '_...Shit.' _

* * *

_**TSOA/N:**_ **I hate this chapter, everything bad about it was Rose's idea. Also, I'm so done with this that I'm not even going to take the time to give you bonus content. **

**TSO is lying and you should not believe anything she says!**

**Rose is crazy and we all know it!**

**Look who's talking...**

**The sane American is.**

**Excuse me while I laugh.**

_**TSOA/N**_**_:_ actually, I changed my mind about the bonus content. **

_**The blonde stood at the door of the Foxy Lady with her team. The rest of GΣCO looked to the girl, quizzical expressions adorning their faces. The address matched exactly to what the mission briefing gave them, and there wasn't anything that would seem to indicate this wasn't their mission, except the establishment itself. **_

_**Cinder was the one to speak first, "Um, Glynda, I think you might have made a mistake when you requested this mission…"**_

_**Their leader shook her head, the weight of their situation dawning on her, "Absolutely not. This is… exactly what I expected when I applied us for this."**_

_**The redhead looked at the girl, squinting suspiciously, "Then why did you say we were going to be driving people around?"**_

_**Not knowing what to do, Glynda raised her voice and tried her best to assert her dominance over the team, "As your leader, I get to make the decisions, and if this is the mission I choose, then this is the mission we do. Any questions?" **_

_**Σμαράγδα **__**sighed, "Okay, girls, I guess we're just going to have to go with it. Hopefully, we all come out of this unharmed." **_

"_**Oh, I nearly forgot," their leader reached into a pocket of her skirt and withdrew three scrolls, "they gave us these scrolls so that we could pass the requirements for employment here. All of us are varying ages over 21, and we don't have any children or husbands." All eyes turned to**_ _**Σμαράγδα**__**.**_

_**The Faunus looked at her team, "It's not my fault! I… he… gave me a few drinks and I... ...the pills failed... it was a Sunday, the abortion clinic was closed… I ran out of gas... I had a flat tire! I didn't have enough money for cab fare! My tux didn't come back from the cleaners! An old friend came in from out of town! Someone stole my car! There was an earthquake! A terrible flood! Locusts! It wasn't my Fault I SWEAR TO GOD!"**_

_**The rest of her team stared at her, not sure what to say. Eventually, the blonde sighed, shaking her head, and returned to the topic on hand. "Also, these don't have any history of activity involving… well… criminal adultery." She paused, her judgemental eyes landing on the redhead, "They won't hire someone who has already been caught." **_

_**Obrey spoke up defensively, "I only did it for one year! I needed the money, and there weren't any stable job options where I lived that would work for me!"**_

_**Cinder shook her head, "You still were sentenced with felony prostitution, Obrey. You spent one year in Vale prison and had to pay 6,000£ for it. We probably wouldn't have needed these if you hadn't." The brunette waved her new scroll in her partner's face.**_

_**Glynda shook her head, "No, Cinder, we would have still needed them for the age requirement. There's nothing we can do to get around that." She looked around and noticed some bystanders watching them, "Now, let's get going before anyone gets suspicious." **_

_**The team begrudgingly moved to the door, entering the establishment. They looked at the bouncer, and Glynda quietly asked him where the manager's office was. After checking their age, the man mumbled something and pointed to a door at the back of the building. The blonde nodded sternly, thanked him, and led team GΣCO to the place indicated. They arrived at the door, but just as Glynda was about to knock, she felt Obrey's hand on her shoulder, stopping her. **_

"_**Girls, we need names for our new… profession. We can't use our real names, or the ones on these scrolls," the redhead whispered to her team.**_

_**The other three stared at her. "You mean stripper names?" the Faunus asked. **_

_**The redhead hesitated before nodding an affirmative. **_

_**Cinder sighed, rubbing her forehead. Of all the things about this mission, this was certainly the most degrading. "Okay, what should we all be?" She quickly realised how this would interact with their cover, "We need something easy to remember that we can all use. Anything that is forgettable will certainly spell trouble for us." **_

_**The Faunus looked at her partner for a second, thinking. "Glynda, what do you think of… Blonde B..." the woman's glare made her stop there, "no… oh… tree swallow… no…" The girl looked over the blonde's form, trying to think of anything that would be easy to remember and quick to associate with Glynda, "OH! I got it! How about Jiggly Juggz?!"**_

_**The Blonde damn near slapped **_**_Σμαράγδα_** _**in the face, but Obrey interrupted, "It's perfect! It just screams… uhh…" she checked Glynda's scroll, "Olivia… Broadchester? Yeah. It just screams Oliva Broadchester to me."**_

_**The leader of team GΣCO looked at the other three, sighing with dismay, "So, are we just going to name each other, then?" **_

_**Obrey nodded, "Sure. Hmm… I think I'll try you, **__**Σμαράγδα**__**. Let's go with…" She eyed the girl carefully, then remembered that the girl had mentioned being a cat Faunus, "Uhh… Pussy Galore?" Cinder giggled slightly when she figured out how her partner came to that name.**_

_**The blonde shook her head, "Check Cinder's scroll, Obrey." The brunette's face fell as she pulled out the scroll and handed it to the redhead. **_

_**The other girl checked the identification screen only to find that Pussy Galore was, in fact, her partner's fake ID. "Well, that's weird… Uh, how about… Ummmm… Kit Kat?" The other two shook their heads in disapproval. The girl's pink eyes ran across the other's mint hair, "Uhhhh… Oh, Jade Thunder!" All three other girls nodded in agreement. **_

_**The Faunus looked to her teammate, "I'm fine with that." She repeated the name, "Jade Thunder," it had a nice ring to it. **_

_**Obrey looked to her leader, "Go for it, Glynda."**_

_**The blonde looked at the two other girls before realizing that if she chose Obrey, Cinder would be naming herself. Her mind drew a blank as she looked at the brunette. Besides being rich, there wasn't much she knew about the Schnee. "Cinder... Ummm... Dust Tycoon… no… Robber Baron… eh, it doesn't work… How about Moneybags Magnate?" The other three all gave her the same shocked and disgusted look. The blonde cursed her lack of creativity as she tried to think of any defining feature of her teammate. The answer finally came to her when she realised the girl's semblance was certainly fire based. "Maybe Burning Desire?" The other three shook their heads, "Oh, wait, duh. Cinder Schnee, I hereby dub you Firecrotch, keeper of the most wanted puss in all of Remnant."**_

_**The Faunus snickered. "Posted bounty, 10,000£ dead, 50,000£ alive."**_

_**Cinder facepalmed as Obrey interjected, "That's my name!" **_

_**Σμαράγδα **__**looked to the redhead, "No, it's clearly Cinder's name." **_

_**The Schnee shook her head, "I guess I'll accept this, if only to spite you..." she looked over her partner's pale white, almost pink, skin as something came to her mind, "Dark Chocolate." A wicked grin spread over her face at the sight of the girl's offence. **_

_**The other two laughed as the redhead sputtered, "I… No… That's not…" **_

_**Glynda put her hand on Obrey's shoulder, "It is now, Dark Chocolate." **_

_**With that, she opened the door and entered the manager's office before the other girl could protest any more. **_

_**Glynda looked at the man sitting in an office chair behind the mahogany table. It was none other than the deputy headmaster of Beacon himself. "Professor Ozpin, what are you doing here?"**_

**There we go. All the bonus content you would ever need. (Actually, we yet again fell in love with our bonus, so go and read Chauffeur Service if you want to see the startling conclusion! Because who doesn't need more stories to write, right?) **

**You're welcome.**

**Also, if we ever make a story for Obby, this is it's summary *read in the voice of the film previews guy***

_**He was a powerful dust dealer downtown, the man was a powerful pimp uptown, she was the most popular girl on the West Side, and main attraction at the biggest underground brothel east of the railroad tracks. What could possibly go wrong?**_


End file.
